Comparison of 'healthy choice' foods

References: Online Food Shopping - ASDA Grocery (2015) Available at: http://groceries.asda.com (Accessed: 2nd June 2015).

First of all, I would like to look at Hartley's raspberry 'sugar-free' jelly. The packaging claims that the jelly is sugar free, fat free, natural colours and less than 10 calories per portion. The overall packaging uses a couple of heart shapes within the design, along with a green colour which signifies that the food is good for you, with the heart being a code for good health and the green colour being known for being a healthy option (green veg, colour used for low fat, sugar, calories etc on nutritional info). 

In order for a food to claim it is sugar-free, it must contain no more than 0.5g of sugars per 100g or 100ml. The nutritional information for this product claims that it contains <0.5g of sugars per 100g as prepared.

In order for a food the claim it is fat-free, it must contain no more than 0.5g of far per 100g or 100ml. The nutritional information for this product claims that it contains <0.5g of fat per 100g as prepared.

So, overall, this product is true to the guidelines and is correct to state that it is low fat and sugar free. The thing that could fool people is the fact that it says less than 10 calories per portion but you have to read very carefully to see that there are in fact 4 portions in the package. In this case, there are very little calories in the food anyway and the whole package would only be around 36 calories in total but this is a trick which is used a lot on foods and if the food was as high in calories as Bachelors Super Noodles, for example, the calorie consumption would be much higher than the consumer would have first guessed. 

The next food I would like to look at is Lurpak Lighter. This food claims it is 'lighter' and also reduced fat.

For a product to claim it is 'light' or 'reduced fat' it has to contain at least 30% less fat than another product similar, so normal Lurpak Spreadable, for example. This product contains 57g of fat per 100g, whereas regular Lurpak contains 78g of fat per 100g. This makes the 'light' version around 25% less fat which tells us that there are clearly ways around the rules and regulations and that they mustn't be set in stone i.e some acceptions must be allowed for certain nutrient types.