The front of a packet is marketing. The back is regulated. Learning to read the back quickly is one of the highest-value ten minutes you can spend on your own nutrition.
Step one: check the serving size
Every number that follows is scaled to this, and manufacturers choose it. A “170 calorie” snack is often 170 calories for a third of the bag. Compare per 100g instead — it is the only fair comparison between two products.
Step two: find the protein
Protein is the number most closely linked to whether a food will keep you full. As a rough shopping heuristic, a main meal worth eating usually has at least 10g per serving.
Step three: look at fibre, not “wholegrain”
“Made with wholegrain” is unregulated in most markets and can mean almost nothing. Fibre per 100g is a number, and numbers do not spin. Above 6g per 100g is genuinely good.
Step four: read the first three ingredients
Ingredients are listed by weight. If sugar — under any of its several dozen names — appears in the first three, you are buying a dessert, whatever the front of the box says.
What to ignore
- “Natural”. Meaningless in most jurisdictions.
- “Low fat”. Frequently means higher sugar to compensate for lost flavour.
- Front-of-pack claims generally. If the claim were on the back it would have to be defensible.
Ten seconds, four numbers. It is one of the lessons in our free Nutrition Basics course, and it changes supermarket trips permanently.
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