Type 2 - Connect

 View Only

  • 1.  Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 27-04-2021 16:45

    Hi All,

    The advocacy team have approached me with questions around food labelling. Any answers you have to the below would be helpful.

    The information that is communicated to us on food labels can be confusing and limited.

    • Do you regularly read the food labels of products you buy?
    • Do you do this only for new products, or for products you have consumed before?
    • What is the most difficult/annoying aspect of food labelling?
    • Do you rely on the health star rating, or do you still look at the more detailed components?
    • Would you like to see a 'diabetes' rating, or would that complicate your personal choices?
    • What would be the components you would expect in a 'diabetes' rating?


    ------------------------------
    Live Your Life Community Team
    Natasha and Erin
    membership@diabetesqld.org.au
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 28-04-2021 12:41
    When shopping I read every label, every time.  The biggest issue for me is the small size of print and poor placement (like under a folded seal).  I don't bother with the health star rating as I think it is a waste of time.  I  think a "diabetes rating" would just add to the clutter of small print.  That would really be someones idea of a one size fits all rating.  I know what I want and read ingredients. I also check what the number mean.   I usually only buy whole fresh foods and Bergen bread.

    Rick

    ------------------------------
    Rick
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 28-04-2021 13:42
    • Do you regularly read the food labels of products you buy?
    Yes, I always read the labels, however I mainly eat fresh foods so I'm not overworked there :)
    • Do you do this only for new products, or for products you have consumed before?
    I always check new foods, and I like to frequently check usual labels to see if anything has changed. 
    • What is the most difficult/annoying aspect of food labelling?
    Sometimes the writing is very small or in in seams, but mostly it's pretty easy to find.  I buy Australian produce where possible and that information is not always clear. Made in Australia can mean bottling/packing imported food. 
    • Do you rely on the health star rating, or do you still look at the more detailed components?
    The health rating is not helpful, only the ingredients and nutrition information.
    A system where cheese gets 1 star and a can of tomato soup which has plenty of sugar in it gets 3.5 stars is inherently flawed! 
    • Would you like to see a 'diabetes' rating, or would that complicate your personal choices?
    A "diabetes" rating may not help as different foods affect people in different ways.  Even certain low GI foods can spike my BGL. I had a good chat with my dietician yesterday about that very thing and we are trying some different things. Testing oneself with various foods, and also portion sizes, has served me well.

    Regards
    Kerry G



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 30-04-2021 04:23
    I agree with Kerry’s comments and do the same myself. The food label composition writing is often too small. The country of origin is not always listed. I prefer to buy Australian products and produce, mainly unprocessed Whole Foods low in sugars and carbohydrates.
    Reds Inge
    Sent from my iPad


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 29-04-2021 08:19
    Hi 

    Many of the food labels are unreadable because the printing is so small. You would have to carry a magnifying glass with you to read all food labels. The reason for this is that there is so little room on the label but this is because there is so much other unnecessary crap on the label. If there are laws about about the information that must be on labels then there ought to be laws about the size of the printing

    Brian Robertson

    ------------------------------
    Brian
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 29-04-2021 15:32
    why can"t labels say what country ingredient come from



    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 29-04-2021 15:32
    I normally read the label before buying a new item but also randomly check one I have bought before.
    The main issue is very small printing but also there is still a fair bit of difference in the presentation of the different components.  It might help is there was some visual device to group (say) all the carbs, all the fats, other components such as sodium and do it in a standard way.  I know they are grouped but the background and printing colour does not change between groups.

    The star rating is pretty useless - it only really helps me to completely avoid even reading some product labels.

    It might help if the star rating was converted into multiple ratings, say, a heart health rating, a diabetes rating etc.  This might help some people who have difficult getting their heads around the various possible permutations.

    ------------------------------
    Alexander
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Food labelling - questions from the advocacy team

    Posted 30-04-2021 07:36
    I concur with the other responses posted, particularly Kerry G,  Rick and Brian. Here are my specific comments -

    1. Do you regularly read the food labels of products you buy?
        Yes. Nutrition - ingredients (g in 100g which is basically a %) and country of origin. Of particular interest are carbohydrate, fibre, sugar (doesn't matter if added or part of main ingredient), fat, sometimes protein and sometimes sodium. The g/100g value has to be taken in context of amount of product consumed. e.g. 20% sugar is inconsequential if only 2 or 3g of product is consumed. Similar to the concept of GI load.

    2. Do you do this only for new products, or for products you have consumed before?
         No.  Always for new products and sometimes review perviously consumed products.
    3. What is the most difficult/annoying aspect of food labelling?
         Inconsistency. Nutrition data do not always have the same nutrients listed making it difficult to compare similar products.
    Also the sometimes very small print. Perhaps a scan code for a smart phone app to display details and additional useful information.
    4. Do you rely on the health star rating, or do you still look at the more detailed components?
          No - suspect star ratings are a marketing ploy to gloss over the "bad" aspects. Star ratings appear to be subjective and compromised by industry lobbying (e.g. fruit juice).       One needs to see the actual data and relate that to one's requirements as established by one's BGL response and scientific research conclusions. 

    6. What would be the components you would expect in a 'diabetes' rating?      Each person has an individual response to nutrient levels. Sometimes very different to the 'average' response. I think a 'diabetes' rating would be as misleading as the 'health' star rating and that 'experienced' label readers would ignore it.

    ------------------------------
    John
    ------------------------------

    Original Message