Every packaged food product in Serbia and the EU must carry a nutrition label — a table on the back of the pack showing energy value and nutrient content. The problem is that most consumers look at only one line of that table, ignoring the rest, which often says more about a product's quality.
A standard nutrition label includes: energy value (in kJ and kcal), the amount of fat and saturated fatty acids, carbohydrates and sugars, protein and salt — all expressed per 100 g or 100 ml of product. Many manufacturers also state the value per serving, which makes it easier to compare against recommended daily intake.
Reference daily intake is the estimated amount of energy and nutrients an average adult needs. When a pack shows that a serving „covers 15% RI for sugars", it means that serving should make up 15% of your daily sugar intake — a useful guide, but not an absolute rule for every individual.
Energy value alone doesn't tell you enough — two products with the same calorie count can have completely different sugar, fat and fiber content. Instead of looking only at „calories", compare sugar and saturated fat content per 100 g, and check where the ingredient you're interested in falls on the ingredient list — ingredients are always listed in descending order by proportion in the product.
Correctly interpreting a nutrition label is one of the basic tools for making informed food choices — and a topic IHIS Nutricionizam addresses as part of its expert labeling consulting.
