Know your labels - Your guide to reading food labels

People with diabetes are advised to follow the same healthy eating pattern recommended for everyone – food that is low in fat (especially saturated fat), salt and sugar, starchy carbohydrate foods in each meal and plenty of fruit and vegetables.
Special diabetic foods are not recommended and offer no benefit to people with diabetes. Traffic light labelling and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA), found on many packs, are useful guides to choosing a healthier diet.
Please browse this section by making selections from the label on the right.

Traffic light labelling

Traffic light labelling found on the front of some packs can show you how healthy or unhealthy the product is for you and helps you to compare similar products. The traffic light colours tell you whether the product has low, medium or high amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt. Examples are shown below.

  • A red means high – the food is high in fat or salt or sugar (or a combination). It is fine occasionally but watch how often you have these foods or eat them in smaller quantities.
  • An amber means medium – it’s okay to have some of the time but try to go for green when you have a choice.
  • Green means low – a healthier choice.
    • Each serving contains
    • Most foods will have a mix of coloured lights so when choosing between similar products, go for a healthier choice with more greens and ambers and fewer reds.
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    Please select from the label items below to display their description
    Typical values | Per serving (120g) | Per 100g
    Energy. 492kJ, 116kcal per serving. 409kJ, 97kcal per 100g
    Protein. 5.2g per serving. 4.3g per 100g
    Carbohydrate. 19.6g per serving (19g of which sugars). 16.3g per 100g (15.8g of which sugars)
    Fat. 1.9g per serving (1.3g of which saturates). 1.6g per 100g (1.1g of which saturates)
    Fibre. 0.2g per serving. 0.2g per 100g
    Sodium. 0.1g per serving. 0.1g per 100g
    Guideline daily amounts
    Additional information