Ghost Fitness/Guides/How to read a nutrition label for beginners?
How to read a nutrition label for beginners?
The short answer
Start with per 100g, the column that compares foods: read energy, then protein for the lifter's target, then sugars and saturates for the two things to limit, then salt. Front-of-pack traffic lights summarise; ingredients run in descending weight.
- The columnper 100g: mandatory, and the only basis that compares foods
- The four readsenergy, protein, sugars, saturates, then salt
- The front of packtraffic lights per portion: a summary, not the declaration
- The supplement differenceper daily dose with %NRV instead of per 100g
Our brand: the worked example on this page
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
- 22p a day
- 180 capsules, 2 capsules daily
- Lab tested
- Made in the UK
A supplement panel, the beginner's next label after food: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate on Amazon UK, per 2 capsules, 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p. Full label breakdown. The three panels are compared on the label guide; the annotated supplement example on the example guide.
The per-100g column first, and the four numbers a beginner who lifts reads on any food
Reading a nutrition label starts with finding the right column, and on a UK food label that is per 100g, the mandatory basis the retained food information regulation requires, printed on every packaged food and the only column that compares one food with another, because per-portion figures depend on a portion size the manufacturer chose, a cereal declaring a 30g portion and a yoghurt a 125g pot, while per 100g puts everything on one scale, so the beginner's first habit is to read per 100g and use the per-portion column, where present, only to size a serving. The declaration runs in a fixed order that never changes, energy, fat, of which saturates, carbohydrate, of which sugars, protein, salt, and a beginner who lifts reads four of them first. Energy, in kilocalories, the number that decides whether a food fits a day's intake, with the kilojoule figure beside it ignorable for most purposes. Protein, per 100g, the lifter's number, since a daily target of around 1.6 grams per kilogram is met from foods whose protein density this column reveals, chicken breast, Greek yoghurt, lentils and eggs reading high and many foods marketed as protein-rich reading modestly once the per-100g figure is found. Sugars, the of-which line under carbohydrate, the first thing to limit, high-sugar foods reading above the traffic-light thresholds and the total carbohydrate line being a different, less useful number. Saturates, the of-which line under fat, the second thing to limit, with total fat being less informative than its saturated share. Salt, in grams, last of the four but easy to read and easy to overshoot in processed foods. Four numbers, one column, and most of a food's story told.
The traffic lights, the ingredients list and the allergens, and where a supplement label differs from all of it
The front of pack carries the traffic lights, the UK's voluntary colour-coded scheme showing fat, saturates, sugars and salt per portion in red, amber or green against thresholds, a summary that is genuinely useful for a quick scan and that a beginner should treat as a summary rather than the declaration, since it is per portion and voluntary, the back-of-pack per-100g table being the document and the front being the headline. The ingredients list runs in descending order of weight, the first ingredient being most of the food and the order telling a beginner that a product listing sugar second is a sugary product whatever the front says, with the allergens emphasised in bold within the list, milk, eggs, wheat, soya, nuts and the rest of the fourteen declared allergens, the part of the label the law enforces most actively and the part anyone with an allergy reads first. Where a supplement label differs is the beginner's next lesson, because a capsule is not a food in the label's sense: a supplement carries no per-100g column, its table declaring each nutrient per recommended daily dose, two capsules, one softgel, with a percentage of the nutrient reference value, %NRV, instead of energy and fat, and, for minerals, an elemental figure beside the compound, 300mg of magnesium from 1500mg of bisglycinate on the worked example, so that the habits transfer, find the basis, read the number, check the percentage, read the ingredients in order, and the columns change, per 100g becoming per daily dose and the traffic lights becoming %NRV. The beginner who can read a food label's per-100g column and a supplement label's per-dose table can read the whole aisle, which is the point of starting with the column.
| The item | On a food label | On a supplement label |
|---|---|---|
| The basis | Per 100g, mandatory; per portion optional | Per recommended daily dose |
| The first reads | Energy, protein, sugars, saturates, salt | Amount and %NRV per nutrient; elemental for minerals |
| The front of pack | Traffic lights per portion, voluntary | None; the table is the document |
| The ingredients | Descending weight; allergens in bold | Descending weight; shell and fillers named |
| What to limit | Sugars and saturates against thresholds | Nothing to limit; %NRV against the upper level |
| The habit | Find the column, read the number | Find the dose, read the number and the percentage |
The verdict, one column and four numbers
How to read a nutrition label for beginners: find the per-100g column, the mandatory basis and the only one that compares foods, read energy, protein for a lifter's target, sugars and saturates as the two things to limit and salt, use the front-of-pack traffic lights as a per-portion summary rather than the declaration, read the ingredients in descending weight with allergens in bold, and then carry the habit to a supplement label, where the basis becomes per daily dose and the percentage becomes %NRV. The supplement panel as the beginner's next label: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, per two capsules, 300mg elemental magnesium at 80% NRV from 1500mg bisglycinate, ingredients in order, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day, read with the same habit and a different column.
What to check on the label
- Find per 100g first: the column that compares foods.
- Read four numbers: energy, protein, sugars, saturates, then salt.
- Treat traffic lights as a summary: per portion, voluntary.
- Read ingredients in order: the first is most of the food; allergens in bold.
- Carry the habit to supplements: per daily dose, %NRV, elemental figures.
Our brand
The worked example: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the worked example for the buying guides because its label is the kind these guides teach you to demand: 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate at 20%, 300mg elemental, 80% NRV, 2 capsules a day, 180 capsules for £19.99, 22p a day, UK made, vegan, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, address printed, no proprietary blend, and the same four authorised claims any honest magnesium may carry.
- Elemental magnesium per serving
- 300mg (80% NRV)
- Form
- magnesium bisglycinate 20%
- Serving
- 2 capsules a day
- Bottle
- 180 capsules, 90 days
- Price
- £19.99 (22p a day)
- Capsule
- vegetarian shell, vegan product
Questions people also ask
What is the most important part of a nutrition label?
The per-100g column: the mandatory basis that compares one food with another, since per-portion figures depend on a portion size the manufacturer chose and vary from product to product.
What should a lifter read first on a food label?
Protein per 100g, the number that reveals which foods actually meet a daily target of around 1.6 grams per kilogram, then energy, then sugars and saturates as the two lines to limit.
What do the traffic lights on the front mean?
A voluntary per-portion summary of fat, saturates, sugars and salt in red, amber or green against thresholds, useful for a quick scan and not a substitute for the back-of-pack per-100g declaration.
How is the ingredients list ordered?
By descending weight, so the first ingredient is most of the food and a product listing sugar second is a sugary product whatever the front says, with the fourteen declared allergens emphasised in bold.
How is a supplement label different from a food label?
No per-100g column: a supplement declares each nutrient per recommended daily dose with a %NRV percentage, and for minerals an elemental figure beside the compound, so the habit transfers and the columns change.
Sources
- The retained Food Information to Consumers regulation: the mandatory nutrition declaration for foods, its fixed order of energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt per 100g, and its rules on portion information, with supplements declaring nutrients per daily dose against nutrient reference values. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/contents
- The UK front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme: voluntary colour-coded labels for fat, saturates, sugars and salt per portion, with the mandatory per-100g declaration remaining the comparison basis. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/front-of-pack-nutrition-labelling-guidance
- The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1387/contents/made
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products. Scientific opinion on Dietary Reference Values for fats: Adequate Intake of 250mg combined EPA and DHA per day for adults. EFSA Journal 2010;8(3):1461. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1461