To help make life easy, over 20,000 of your favorite foods
and drinks now have a GDA label on the front of the
packaging, which highlights how many grams of the fi ve key
nutrients – calories, fat, saturates, sugar and salt – are in
them and what percentage this is of your total daily
requirement. (Strictly speaking a calorie is not a nutrient,
but don ’ t worry about that for the moment.) One quick
glance at a GDA label will tell you exactly what ’ s in the
food you ’ re about to eat. And if you look on the back of the
pack, you will get other nutritional information too
Whatever it is you ’ re comparing, the GDA Diet teaches
you how to use the GDA food label to make the right
choice. That ’ s very good news, because let ’ s face it, there
are better things to do in life than stand in the supermarket
for hours wondering what to choose for your net meal.
WHERE DID GDA s COME FROM?
Although research into GDAs has been carried out
progressively over the last 20 years, they didn ’ t appear on
food labels or hit the headlines until 1998. GDA values
were devised by a panel of experts from the scientifi c
community, the food industry, as well as health and
nutrition specialists .
The GDA labelling system was designed to:
helps consumers (that ’ s you and me, by the way) select a
better diet
helps consumers make choices about the foods that suit
specifi c needs and lifestyles
That sounds like a good recipe for healthy eating that could
also help us keep in control of our weight!
CHECK, COMPARE AND CHOOSE 13
The GDA label is also known as the ‘ What ’ s inside? ’
guide. It translates the science underpinning GDAs into
consumer - friendly information that can be used to make
healthier food choices. By clearly showing the content of a
product in per portion values, rather than per 100 g, the
GDA labels relate to the amount of a food people actually
consume and how much of the GDAs the food contributes.
Guideline Daily Amounts were set for the nutrients we
all need to eat a little less of, like fat, saturated fat, sugar
and salt . GDA labelling is particularly
useful for people who are trying to meet the GDA
guidelines and puts this information in perspective. The
GDAs for fat, saturates, sugar and salt are not targets we
should aim to eat in a day, they are maximum amounts we
should eat in a day. GDA labels make it much easier to
know when we are likely to consume more than the
recommended daily amounts.
There are also GDAs for important nutrients like fibre,
protein and calories and these are a little more like targets
to aim for. You ’ ll always see calories on the GDA front - of -
pack label, but fibre and protein don ’ t tend to be featured
on the front - of - pack labels we ’ ll be using for the diet,
although the information is still there. You can usually find
fibre and protein fi gures when you turn a pack over and
look at the general nutrition information panel on the back
of the pack.
and drinks now have a GDA label on the front of the
packaging, which highlights how many grams of the fi ve key
nutrients – calories, fat, saturates, sugar and salt – are in
them and what percentage this is of your total daily
requirement. (Strictly speaking a calorie is not a nutrient,
but don ’ t worry about that for the moment.) One quick
glance at a GDA label will tell you exactly what ’ s in the
food you ’ re about to eat. And if you look on the back of the
pack, you will get other nutritional information too
Whatever it is you ’ re comparing, the GDA Diet teaches
you how to use the GDA food label to make the right
choice. That ’ s very good news, because let ’ s face it, there
are better things to do in life than stand in the supermarket
for hours wondering what to choose for your net meal.
WHERE DID GDA s COME FROM?
Although research into GDAs has been carried out
progressively over the last 20 years, they didn ’ t appear on
food labels or hit the headlines until 1998. GDA values
were devised by a panel of experts from the scientifi c
community, the food industry, as well as health and
nutrition specialists .
The GDA labelling system was designed to:
helps consumers (that ’ s you and me, by the way) select a
better diet
helps consumers make choices about the foods that suit
specifi c needs and lifestyles
That sounds like a good recipe for healthy eating that could
also help us keep in control of our weight!
CHECK, COMPARE AND CHOOSE 13
The GDA label is also known as the ‘ What ’ s inside? ’
guide. It translates the science underpinning GDAs into
consumer - friendly information that can be used to make
healthier food choices. By clearly showing the content of a
product in per portion values, rather than per 100 g, the
GDA labels relate to the amount of a food people actually
consume and how much of the GDAs the food contributes.
Guideline Daily Amounts were set for the nutrients we
all need to eat a little less of, like fat, saturated fat, sugar
and salt . GDA labelling is particularly
useful for people who are trying to meet the GDA
guidelines and puts this information in perspective. The
GDAs for fat, saturates, sugar and salt are not targets we
should aim to eat in a day, they are maximum amounts we
should eat in a day. GDA labels make it much easier to
know when we are likely to consume more than the
recommended daily amounts.
There are also GDAs for important nutrients like fibre,
protein and calories and these are a little more like targets
to aim for. You ’ ll always see calories on the GDA front - of -
pack label, but fibre and protein don ’ t tend to be featured
on the front - of - pack labels we ’ ll be using for the diet,
although the information is still there. You can usually find
fibre and protein fi gures when you turn a pack over and
look at the general nutrition information panel on the back
of the pack.
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