Ingredients list

​Ingredients are mandatory informations for a large proportion of food products. Ingredients are shown as a list which indicates all the ingredients contained in a packaged food. Since 2014 a minimum size of 1.2 mm for the ingredients lettering has been defined.
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​1- Length of the ingredients list:
​The longer the list of ingredients, the more the product is processed. So look for the shortest list of ingredients possible. The less ingredients will show a composition closer to a homemade food (more complete and nutritious).

​2 - Importance of the ingredients order:
They are placed in descending order of weight. That is, the main ingredient will be placed at the beginning of the list, while the ingredient in smaller quantities will be placed at the end.
The first 2 or 3 ingredients give a good idea of the composition of the product.

If sugar appears in the first position, it is best not to purchase the product.
If we take the example of Nutella, we could believe that the main ingredients would be chocolate and hazelnuts, but in reality we find in No. 1- sugar and in No. 2- palm oil, hazelnuts come only in No. 3 with 13% and cocoa in 4 with 7.4%, that says a lot....
On the left, the ingredients list of Nutella (sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk....) on the right two other more interesting alternatives....

Nutella

Jean Hervé Chocolade

Pâte à tartiner choco-noisettes Saveur U

Water is also often present at the top of the list, which means that the main ingredient is water.... Do we need to buy water?

​3 - The quality of the ingredients:
Quality ingredients should be chosen, wholemeal flour rather than white flour for biscuits, vegetable oils such as olive or rapeseed oil rather than palm oil and hydrogenated oils should also be avoided.

​4 - Pay attention to food additives:
Some additives are natural and harmless, others are chemical and to avoid, because dangerous. In Europe, they all begin with an E.
As additives you can find thickeners, emulsifiers, sweeteners, flavour enhancers, colorants, baking powders, preservatives. They indicate that the product is industrial and ultra-processed, so the less the better.
(an article to come on the subject)

​The most important thing to look at is the list of ingredients, always keeping in mind the three essential criteria: the number, order and quality of ingredients.

​Sugars in the ingredients list

image created by V.ivash

When sugar is used in the composition of a food, the name of the added sugar must appear on it.  But beware sugar is present in many products and under different names.

• All the sugars that hide behind the names in "ose": maltose, lactose, dextrose, fructose, sucrose, galactose...
• All syrups: corn, cane, malt, rice, invert sugar, maple, carob, date, agave, starch....  Corn syrup (glucose-fructose syrup, iso glucose syrup) should be avoided at all costs. It is widely used in the United States under the name "high-fructose corn syrup - HFCS".
• Cane derivatives
• Malt extract, modified starch, dextrin, dextran, maltodextrin, diastase, diastase malt
• Date juice and sugar, fruit juice, concentrated fruit juice, grape juice, apple juice...
• Honey
• Molasses
• Caramel
• ......

So easy to get confused !!!!! and on top of it there can be several in the same product...

On a daily basis, it is recommended to choose as many products as possible that contain naturally occurring sugars and do not contain added sugars. Otherwise, prefer products containing the least refined sugars possible (honey, agave, maple, coconut sugar...).
Limit products with processed or modified sugars as much as you can, i.e. all the others.
Eating more fresh, unprocessed foods and still water remains the best way to significantly reduce our consumption of hidden sugars.