The 'Per Serving' Illusion
The first number you see is often the nutrition information 'per serving'. This seems straightforward, but it's a common marketing trap. Food manufacturers get to define their own serving sizes, and they often make them unrealistically small. A packet
of biscuits might list calories for a serving of just two biscuits, or a bag of chips for a mere 10 crisps. Most people, however, consume far more than the suggested serving in one sitting. This isn't a mistake; it's a strategy. By using tiny serving sizes, companies can make the numbers for calories, sugar, and fat seem much lower and more appealing than they actually are for a realistic portion. Relying on this number alone can be very misleading.
Your Secret Weapon: The 'Per 100g' Column
The second, and far more powerful, number on the label is the information provided 'per 100g' or 'per 100ml'. Under FSSAI regulations in India, companies are required to provide this column alongside the 'per serving' data. This is your key to making a fair, apples-to-apples comparison between two different products. The 'per 100g' value standardises the information, removing the company's ability to manipulate the data with misleading serving sizes. When you're trying to decide between two brands of breakfast cereal, for example, ignore the serving size and go straight to the 'per 100g' column. This will tell you which one is truly lower in sugar or higher in fibre, regardless of their different suggested portions.
The Numbers That Matter Most
Now that you know where to look, you need to know what to look for. While all the information is useful, focus on a few key culprits in packaged foods: added sugar, sodium (salt), and saturated fat. In general, when comparing two products using the 'per 100g' column, the one with the lower numbers for these three is the healthier choice. For sugar, anything over 15g per 100g is considered high. For sodium, try to stay below 600mg per 100g. And for saturated fat, anything above 5g per 100g is a significant amount. Checking these figures gives you a quick snapshot of the product's nutritional quality without getting overwhelmed.
A Real-World Biscuit Battle
Let's put this into practice. Imagine Biscuit Brand A says it has 6g of sugar per serving. Biscuit Brand B says it has 8g. Brand A seems better, right? Not so fast. First, check the serving sizes. Brand A’s serving might be two biscuits (25g), while Brand B’s is three biscuits (40g). The comparison is meaningless. Now, let's use our secret weapon. You look at the 'per 100g' column. Brand A has 24g of sugar per 100g. Brand B has 20g of sugar per 100g. Suddenly, the picture is clear. Brand B is actually the lower-sugar option, despite what the 'per serving' numbers might have suggested. This simple check empowers you to see past the marketing and understand what you're really eating.
Don't Forget the Ingredient List
After you've checked the numbers, take one final 10-second step: scan the list of ingredients. FSSAI mandates this list be in descending order by weight, so the first few ingredients make up the bulk of the product. Look for foods with shorter ingredient lists and things you recognise. If sugar, or one of its many aliases (like corn syrup, sucrose, or fructose), is one of the first three ingredients, you know it's a high-sugar product. Similarly, be wary of seeing 'partially hydrogenated oil' or 'vanaspati', which can indicate the presence of unhealthy trans fats even if the label claims 0g per serving. Prioritising whole ingredients over a long list of additives is always a smart move.
