How do I know if a processed food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt?
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There are guidelines to tell you if a food is high or low in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar. These are:
Total fat
- High: more than 17.5 g of fat per 100 g
- Low: 3 g of fat or less per 100 g
Saturated fat
- High: more than 5 g of saturated fat per 100 g
- Low: 1.5 g of saturated fat or less per 100 g
Sugars
- High: more than 22.5 g of total sugars per 100 g
- Low: 5 g of total sugars or less per 100 g
Salt
- High: more than 1.5 g of salt per 100 g (or 0.6 g sodium)
- Low: 0.3 g of salt or less per 100 g (or 0.1 g sodium)
For example, if you are trying to cut down on saturated fat, try to limit the amount of foods you eat that have more than 5 g of saturated fat per 100 g.
If the processed food you want to buy has a nutrition label that uses colour-coding, you will often find a mixture of red, amber and green. So, when you’re choosing between similar products, try to go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds, if you want to make a healthier choice.
However, eve...
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