Labels are supposed to help consumers make informed choices. In practice, they’re often designed to do the opposite.

Food packaging highlights “high in protein” while burying the sugar content. Supplement bottles list 25 impressive-sounding ingredients without telling you how much of each is inside. Terms like “natural,” “clean,” and “clinically tested” sound meaningful but are legally almost meaningless.

The good news is that once you know what to look for, labels become genuinely useful. A few minutes of label literacy can save money, avoid misleading products, and help identify the options that are actually worth buying.

Reading Food Labels: What Matters

The Ingredients List

This is the most honest part of any food label. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity, with the most abundant first.

What to check: If sugar (or one of its many aliases) appears in the first three ingredients, the product is primarily a sugar delivery system regardless of what the front of the package says. Common disguises include glucose syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, rice syrup, agave nectar, and fruit juice concentrate.

The short list rule: Generally, fewer ingredients means less processing. A jar of peanut butter should contain peanuts and maybe salt. If the list runs to 15 ingredients, something else is going on.

The Nutrition Table

In Europe, nutrition information is standardised per 100g (and sometimes per serving). This makes comparison between products straightforward.

What to focus on:

Calories give you the energy picture.

Protein, fat, and carbohydrates show the macro breakdown.

Of which sugars (under carbohydrates) reveals how much of the carb content is sugar. This is one of the most useful numbers on the label.

Of which saturates (under fat) shows how much is saturated fat.

Salt is listed separately in Europe. Keep an eye on this in processed foods.

Fibre is increasingly included and worth checking. Higher is generally better.

Front-of-Pack Claims

These are marketing, not science. Here’s what some common claims actually mean:

“Natural” has no legal definition in most countries. It can go on almost anything.

“No added sugar” means no sugar was added during manufacturing, but the product can still be high in naturally occurring sugars.

“Light” or “Lite” usually means 30% less of something (fat, sugar, calories) compared to the regular version. Check what was added to compensate.

“High in protein” in the EU means at least 20% of energy comes from protein. This can be technically true while the product is still mostly sugar and fat.

“Source of vitamins” means it contains at least 15% of the recommended daily intake. Often a trivial amount added to justify a health claim.

Reading Supplement Labels: Where It Gets Tricky

Supplement labels are less standardised than food labels and give manufacturers more room to obscure information. Here’s what to look for.

The Supplement Facts Panel

Active ingredients and amounts. Every supplement should list exactly what’s inside and how much per serving. If exact amounts aren’t shown, that’s a red flag.

% NRV (Nutrient Reference Value). In Europe, this shows how much of the recommended daily intake each serving provides. 100% NRV means one serving covers the daily recommendation. Some supplements contain 500% or more, which for most vitamins is unnecessary and for some can be harmful.

Serving size. Check how many capsules or scoops equal one serving. A product might look affordable until you realise one serving is four capsules and the bottle lasts two weeks.

The Ingredients Behind the Ingredients

Forms matter. The specific form of a vitamin or mineral affects how well the body absorbs it. Magnesium citrate absorbs better than magnesium oxide. Methylfolate is more bioavailable than folic acid for many people. Vitamin D3 is generally preferred over D2. The cheapest supplements typically use the least absorbable forms.

Fillers, binders, and coatings. These are listed under “other ingredients.” Some are harmless and necessary for manufacturing (like cellulose capsules). Others, like artificial colours, titanium dioxide, or excessive additives, are worth questioning.

The Biggest Trick: Proprietary Blends

A proprietary blend lists the ingredients but not the individual amounts. Instead, it shows only the total weight of the blend.

For example, a “Focus Blend: 500mg” containing L-theanine, caffeine, ginkgo biloba, and bacopa tells you nothing about how much of each ingredient is present. The blend could be 490mg of the cheapest ingredient and 10mg of the one you actually want. There’s no way to know.

The rule: If a supplement uses proprietary blends, you can’t verify whether it contains effective doses of anything. Avoid them.

Third-Party Testing: The Trust Shortcut

Because supplements don’t require pre-market approval in most countries, independent testing is the closest thing to a quality guarantee.

What to look for:

Certifications from organisations like NSF International, USP (United States Pharmacopeia), ConsumerLab, or Informed Sport. These verify that the product contains what the label claims, in the amounts stated, without harmful contaminants.

What it doesn’t guarantee: Third-party testing confirms quality and accuracy, not effectiveness. A product can be exactly what it claims and still not do much for your health if the evidence for that supplement is weak.

A Quick Label-Reading Checklist

For food: Read the ingredients list first, not the front of the package. Check sugar content per 100g. Compare similar products using the per-100g column. Ignore front-of-pack marketing claims unless you’ve verified them against the nutrition table.

For supplements: Confirm individual ingredient amounts are listed (no proprietary blends). Check the form of each nutrient. Look at % NRV and question anything wildly above 100% unless there’s a specific reason. Note the serving size and calculate the real cost per day. Look for third-party testing certifications.

The Bottom Line

Reading labels is one of the most practical nutrition skills you can develop. It takes a few minutes per product and gets faster with practice. For food, the ingredients list and the per-100g nutrition table tell you almost everything you need. For supplements, individual ingredient amounts, nutrient forms, and third-party testing are the three things that separate a quality product from an overpriced placebo.

The front of any package is advertising. The back is where the truth lives.