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Published on Tuesday, 09 May 2006

When you buy fresh foods you know what you are getting. But today we also have a vast range of tempting processed foods to choose from. Making sense of their labels can be hard work too. Here¬ís some ideas to help you make the healthy choices you want to make. 

• Take time to sit down and plan what you will eat over the next few days or week. Now draw up a shopping list ¬ñ and keep to it! That extra organisation can make all the difference when life takes over and time pressures kick in.
• Beware big packs of food, unless you use them to feed a big family. They may save a bit of money, but if they make it difficult for you to control how much you eat, they lose any cost benefit.
• Avoid the aisles crammed with foods you are trying to eat less of ¬ñ buying foods you know you find hard to resist makes it harder work.
• Try not to shop when hungry, tired, down or stressed.
• Beware misleading nutritional claims (see below for more information)
• Ask yourself if the kids really needs all those unhealthy foods in the house?
• A good nutrition label lists nutrients per 100g of food and also per typical portion of the food.  It also shows how many portions there are in a pack. Make sure you aren¬ít eating a whole pack that is actually meant to serve two!
• Check and compare similar products ¬ñ and choose the one with the lower calorie content per portion.