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- What is the ingredients list?
- How is the ingredients list displayed?
- What is the purpose of showing the ingredients list?
The ingredients list provides a list of all the ingredients that are contained in the package food.
The ingredients are listed in descending order - from the first ingredient (which is the the most amount in the packaged food) to the last ingredient (which is least amount in the packaged food).
How is the ingredients list displayed?
The ingredients list is displayed on most food packages (other than those exempted by Food Standards Australia), somewhere near the nutrition label - usually above the nutrition label, but can be displayed elsewhere.
In Australia, there is a requirement to display the percentage of each ingredient item. This requirement was put in place to give consumers informed choices about the food they purchase.
An example of an ingredients list showing percentages is:
What is the purpose of showing the ingredients list?
The ingredients list is displayed so consumers know which foods (plus preservatives/colours/flavours) make up the food they are eating, plus the amount of each food.
This is especially important for those people who are selecting foods that have:
- higher nutritional values
- less fat
- more natural ingredients
- less preservatives and other artificial ingredients
- are dieting and need to know the ingredients if they are avoiding certain things
More information
To learn more, see Food Standards Australia.
references
- Food Standards Australia and New Zealand - information about the nutrition labels in Australia and New Zealand, accessed 7 January 2007
- US FDA - Understanding Nutrition Labels - detailed information about all nutrition labels in the USA
