Reading the nutrition label

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Per 100 mL times the whole bottle

EVIDENCEGUIDE 3 · REVIEW 2

READ THE ORIGINAL

The nutrition panel on the back of a pack lists the energy and main nutrients in the food. Under the current Chinese standard, GB 28050-2011, it must list at least five rows: energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, and next to each row a percentage of the nutrient reference value. Energy is the total fuel the body can burn, and protein, fat and carbohydrate are the three sources of that fuel.

These numbers are concentrations, not the amount you eat. The panel gives values per 100 g, per 100 mL or per serving, and when it uses servings it must say how big one serving is. What your body receives is: the amount per 100 g (or mL) × the grams (or millilitres) you actually eat or drink ÷ 100. Two drinks grabbed for an afternoon slump may have about the same sugar per 100 mL, but if one bottle holds 330 mL and the other 500 mL, finishing each one delivers about 1.5 times as much sugar from the bigger bottle as from the smaller one.

The bigger the package, the more people tend to eat and drink. That is why this multiplication should come first.

Educational content, not medical advice. See a clinician about your own case.

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Reading the nutrition label

Read full story

Stop 1/5

Per 100 mL times the whole bottle

EVIDENCEGUIDE 3 · REVIEW 2

READ THE ORIGINAL

The nutrition panel on the back of a pack lists the energy and main nutrients in the food. Under the current Chinese standard, GB 28050-2011, it must list at least five rows: energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, and next to each row a percentage of the nutrient reference value. Energy is the total fuel the body can burn, and protein, fat and carbohydrate are the three sources of that fuel.

These numbers are concentrations, not the amount you eat. The panel gives values per 100 g, per 100 mL or per serving, and when it uses servings it must say how big one serving is. What your body receives is: the amount per 100 g (or mL) × the grams (or millilitres) you actually eat or drink ÷ 100. Two drinks grabbed for an afternoon slump may have about the same sugar per 100 mL, but if one bottle holds 330 mL and the other 500 mL, finishing each one delivers about 1.5 times as much sugar from the bigger bottle as from the smaller one.

The bigger the package, the more people tend to eat and drink. That is why this multiplication should come first.

Educational content, not medical advice. See a clinician about your own case.