Concerns over food safety - particularly the use of additives and preservatives, as well as salt, fat and sugar content - mean that consumers may feel they have to spend hours examining labels. So what should we be looking for: the quantity of fat, E numbers, an absence of sugar?
The words 'natural' and 'fresh' are two of the most abused terms: there is no legal definition of either. And such words as 'traditional' are often deliberately misleading. When you buy fresh produce, which has no information about how it was raised, you should assume that it was grown with the aid of chemicals. Remember, though, that being called 'organic' is just one factor in the food's favour.
Eating so-called fresh food is not without complications. Fruit and vegetables can sit in a dock for days, or in cold storage for months, thereby losing many vitamins and minerals, before it appears as 'fresh' in the shops. I would like to see 'picked on' dates appearing on labels, so we can have some idea of freshness and nutrient value. Frozen vegetables can have a higher vitamin and mineral content than fresh ones, as strict legislative guidelines mean they must be frozen within a set period of time once picked. So don't be prejudiced against the freezer.
There are many loopholes that allow food manufacturers to confuse the consumer. Currently, nearly all foods that come within the scope of either UK or EU food-labelling regulations must carry a list of ingredients. But while manufacturers have to state the percentage of the ingredients, they need not divulge any further nutritional information (unless they also make a specific health claim, such as 'low fat').
Without knowing whether a pie containing 45 per cent meat but 10 per cent onion is healthier than one containing 40 per cent meat and 5 per cent cheese, we are left in the dark. Even when food manufacturers list nutritional information, they are only legally required to state four nutritional facts - energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat - and not, for instance, which type of fat, ie whether it's saturated or unsaturated. The message would be even clearer if you knew the total quantity of each ingredient in a standardised, typical portion rather than per 100g (as is usually the case). Manufacturers can be very selective with portion sizes to help make their marketing point.
Even ranges that imply healthiness are not always what they seem - a Go Ahead '85 per cent fat-free' chocolate biscuit contains more fat than a Sara Lee creamy lemon meringue pie. And you cannot always believe what food manufacturers say on their labels. In the UK, the Consumers' Association tested 70 products. Only 10 per cent contained the quantities stated on the labels. Many were way out.
Marks & Spencer was 72 per cent out in the measurement of fat in its ice cream, and Weight Watchers' baked beans contained 72 calories per 100g, when the tin claimed 56.
Although sugar can be a good source of calories and energy, too much can lead to unwanted weight gain and dental cavities, among other health problems. Some people do not realise that sugar can be disguised in many ways. Fructose, maltose, lactose, dextrose, sucrose and glucose are all sugars, as is honey, concentrated fruit juice and anything described as 'syrup'. Freshly squeezed fruit juice may contain more sugar, in the form of fructose, than an artificial drink. In theory, freshly squeezed juice has a healthy advantage over canned drinks because of its vitamin C and folic acid content, but until it is marked with the date the fruit was picked, we cannot know whether it contains significant amounts of these vitamins.
Partially hydrolysed starch, or maltodextrin, is halfway between a starch and a sugar and is often used as a bulking agent or filler. The body 'reads' and processes it as sugar. The label 'sugar-free' may simply mean that a food does not contain sucrose; 'no added sugar' means that it is naturally sweet, so it may still cause health problems.
My advice is that all sweet foods should be treated with a degree of caution. For most people, this means keeping the quantity down; people with low body weights can find sugar a very useful source of calories. However, a small amount of sugar or animal fat listed on the label doesn't mean that the food is unhealthy. Sugar is an important preservative, and fat contains fat-soluble vitamins.
Excess salt can cause problems for people with fluid retention, diabetes, atherosclerosis (furring of the arteries), high blood pressure or kidney problems, yet salt is often just labelled as sodium. There is a lot of hidden salt in processed foods we generally consider sweet or bland, such as desserts and bread. Cornflakes, for instance, have a higher proportion of salt than Atlantic seawater. Foods labelled 'low fat', 'low sugar' and 'diabetic', in particular, may contain huge amounts of salt to make up for the flavours lost in processing - another reason for supporting comprehensive nutritional labelling.
Manufacturers further play with consumer ignorance by using such expressions as 'lite', 'healthy' and 'nutritious' to tempt you into buying their food. The Consumers' Association quotes the example of Ovaltine Light low-fat chocolate drink, which contains 6.6 per cent fat, whereas regular Ovaltine only contains 2 per cent. Low-fat foods may also contain huge amounts of sugar and/or calories: Jacobs Light Cream Crackers contain 50 per cent less fat than its standard cream crackers but only 4 per cent less calories - not such an improvement for those watching their weight. And low-sugar varieties may contain more fat than the standard version of the food.
Just because a fat spread is labelled 'lite' or 'low fat', it doesn't mean you can use lashings of it - a common reaction when you think it's light. While a spread with 60 per cent fat (not exactly 'lite') is lower in fat than butter and traditional margarine (with 80 per cent fat), it may also contain hydrogenated fats or oils which raise 'bad' cholesterol in the blood, reduce 'good' cholesterol and expose your body to a greater risk of developing heart disease and cancer.
There are moves, however, to tighten up current guidelines. For example, a 'low-fat' food must contain less than 5 per cent fat, but new guidelines (which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has given companies up to 18 months to comply with) stipulate that this will decrease to 3 per cent. My guide is to use a small amount of butter or olive oil - at least you know what you're eating.
Buying low-fat chocolate bars doesn't do your body any favours. These vegetable oil-based confectionery items are full of additives, preservatives and artificial sweeteners. You'd be much better off enjoying a small amount of fine, high-cocoa chocolate and incorporating it into a healthy eating plan, either as a treat after meals or melted as a dip or sauce for fruits such as strawberries, bananas or pears.
No one, as yet, has managed to come up with a good-tasting processed food that has more of the positives and less of the negatives than the produce that nature provides. So until (if ever) this point arises, choosing simple, unprocessed foods will enable your mind, as well as your body, to remain on the straight and narrow.
