Transcript Abridged version

Use Nutrition Label to
Choose Healthy Food
(Abridged version)
Information on Food Labels
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Nutrition Information on Food Labels:
Nutrition Label
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Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling)
(Amendment: Requirements for Nutrition Labelling
and Nutrition Claim) Regulation 2008
Nutrition information on Food Labels
Nutrition Claims
Nutrition Labelling
Nutrient content claims
Nutrient comparative claims
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Nutrient function claims
Making Use of Nutrition Label
Consumers can:

Compare the nutritional content among
different foods for a healthier choice, e.g. to
choose food that is lower in fat, sodium (or
salt) and sugars.

Understand the nutritional content of food
and estimate their contribution to the overall
diet.

To meet individual’s dietary needs.
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Three Simple Steps to Read
Nutrition Label
Step 1
 Take note of the reference amount of food
being used in the nutrition label
Step 2
 Read the energy and nutrient content together
with the reference amount
Step 3
 Refer to the percentage Nutrient Reference
Value (%NRV), if available, to see if the food
contains a lot or a little of energy or a nutrient in
the food
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Step 1:
Take note of the reference amount of food
being used in the nutrition label

Expressed as
per 100 g (or
per 100 mL)
of food
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Step 1:
Take note of the reference amount of food
being used in the nutrition label

Expressed as per serving (the serving size (in g or
mL) and the no. of servings must be specified on
the package)
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Step 1:
Take note of the reference amount of food
being used in the nutrition label

Expressed as per package (if the package
contains only a single serving )
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Step 2A:
Use nutrition label to
compare between products

Products with nutritional content expresssed in
the SAME reference amount
(Partial) Nutrition label of Brand A biscuit
(Partial) Nutrition label of Brand C biscuit
If reference amount is the SAME, you CAN COMPARE
between the products DIRECTLY
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Step 2A:
Use nutrition label to
compare between products

Products with nutritional content expresssed in
DIFFERENT reference amounts
(Partial) Nutrition label of Brand A biscuit
(Partial) Nutrition label of Brand D biscuit
If reference amounts are DIFFERENT, you CANNOT
COMPARE between the products DIRECTLY
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Step 2:
Read the energy and nutrient content
together with the reference amount

Products with nutritional content expresssed in
DIFFERENT reference amounts
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Step 2:
Read the energy and nutrient content
together with the reference amount

The more you eat, the more you get

If you eat 1 serving of biscuit


Get 8 g of fat, 3.5 g of saturated fat
If you eat 2 servings of biscuit

Get 16 g of fat, 7 g of saturated fat
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Step 3: Refer to the percentage Nutrient Reference
Value (%NRV), if available, to see if the food contains
a lot or a little of energy or a nutrient in the food

Energy and nutrient content sometimes are expressed
as a percentage which is usually on a scale from 0% to
100%.
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Nutrition Label and Healthy Eating
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Principles of Healthy Eating





Choose a variety of food and eat cereals as
the largest portion of food in every meal.
Eat a lot of vegetables and fruit.
Reduce the consumption of foodstuffs with
high salt, fat and sugar content as well as
those which are preserved.
A daily fluid intake of 6 to 8 glasses
(including clear soup, fruit juice and tea).
Take meals regularly and in adequate
amounts.
(Source of information: Department of Health)
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Nutrition Labelling is a Useful Tool
for Practising Healthy Eating

Nutrition label and nutrition claim can
help consumers choose healthier food in
accordance with healthy eating principles
and the Food Pyramid, e.g.



Choose biscuits lower in fat and sodium (or
salt)
Choose dairy products lower in fat
Choose beverages lower in sugars
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Use Nutrition Labels to Choose
“3 Low” Prepackaged Food
How to Choose “3 Low”
Prepackaged Food
“3 Low”--- Low fat, Low sodium (or Low salt),
Low sugars
1.
Use nutrition claim as a quick screening tool; and
2.
Take three simple steps to read nutrition label, and
choose food lower in fat, sodium and sugars
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How to Choose “3 Low”
Prepackaged Food
The words below are considered as synonyms for nutrition
claims, they may help you choose food with low/free fat,
sodium or sugars:
Claim
Meaning of Claim
Free; No; Zero; Without;
Does not contain
Insignificant amount of a particular
nutrient found in the food
Very low; Extremely low;
Super low
This category of claim applies to
sodium only, meaning a very small
amount of sodium found in the food
Low; Little; Low source; Few;
Contains a small amount of
A small amount of nutrient found in
the food
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How to Choose “3 Low” Prepackaged
Food – Example 1
Milk Beverage A
Milk Beverage B
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How to Choose “3 Low” Prepackaged
Food – Example 2
Corn Flakes C
Corn Flakes D
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How to Choose “3 Low” Prepackaged
Food – Example 3
Soup E
Soup F
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END
Required Nutrients on Nutrition Labels

1+7 (energy plus seven nutrients specified for
labelling) –
i.e. energy, protein, total fat, saturated fat, trans
fat, carbohydrates, sugars and sodium.

Nutrient(s) involved in nutrition claim(s) (when
the nutrition claim is on any type of fat, the
amount of cholesterol must be declared as well).

For other nutrients, declaration is voluntary.
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Control of Nutrition Claims


Nutrition claim means any representation which
states, suggests or implies that a food has
particular nutritional properties.
From 1 July 2010, all nutrition claims must meet
certain specified conditions, e.g.



Product with “Low sodium” claim should contain not
more than 120 mg of sodium per 100 g/mL of food.
Product with “Low sugars” claim should contain not
more than 5 g of sugars per 100 g/mL of food.
Nutrition claims on food labels and advertisements
are all regulated.
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Wordings on Food Packages
may be Blacked out or Covered

Some nutrition claims may not meet certain
specific criteria as required by the new
Regulation in Hong Kong.

Therefore, traders might black out or cover the
relevant wordings on the food packages.
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Wordings on Food Packages
may be Blacked out or Covered

Food products with low sales volume could be
exempted from nutrition labelling if they do not carry
any nutrition claims.
此乃豁免營養標籤產品
Nutrition Labelling
Exempted

此乃豁免
營養標籤產品
Nutrition
Labelling
Exempted
此乃豁免
營養標籤產品
Nutrition
Labelling
Exempted
Therefore, some traders may black out or cover the
wordings on these products’ packages in order to
make their products exempted.
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