Food traffic light: that is what the values mean
Under a food traffic light you have to imagine a traffic light in the nutritional information of a food product. As with a real traffic light, green is harmless, orange is critical and red means that you should take a closer look.
That says the food traffic light
Imagine the food traffic light like a traffic light. The components of a product are highlighted in green, yellow or red.
- If a food component is green, it has little share in the overall product. If it is highlighted in yellow, the proportion is larger, which is not necessarily good but within the framework. If an ingredient is marked in red, there is a lot of it in the product. So much that it is no longer healthy.
- If you want to eat a healthy diet, you should pay attention to as many green fields as possible on the food traffic light on the product.
- In the case of the traffic light on food products, the proportion of food components is often related to 100 grams of the total product.
- Depending on the amount of sugar, fat or saturated fatty acids, for example, the components are highlighted in green, yellow or red.
- The model of the food traffic light comes from the UK, by the way. However, the traffic light is constantly being adapted to the wishes of the food lobby, since unfortunately it exerts very great pressure.
The food traffic light for food products
There are different limits for different food components, from when this is classified green, yellow or red. The following gram numbers refer to a total of 100 grams of the total product.
- Green: 0-3g fat, 0-1.5g saturated fat, 0-5g sugar, 0-0.3g salt
- Yellow: 3-20g fat, 1.5-5g saturated fatty acids, 5-12.5g sugar, 0.3-1.5g salt
- Red: more than 20g fat, more than 5g saturated fatty acids, more than 12.5g sugar, more than 1.5g salt
The food traffic light for drinks
You will find the traffic lights not only in relation to food but also to beverages. The limits for drinks are somewhat stricter, but lower than for food, as you can see below. The information relates to 100 milliliters of a drink.
- Green: 0-1.5g fat, 0-0.75g saturated fat, 0-2.5g sugar, 0-0.3g salt
- Yellow: 1.5-10g fat, 0.75-2.5g saturated fatty acids, 2.5-6.3g sugar, 0.3-1.5g salt
- Red: more than 10g fat, more than 2.5g saturated fatty acids, more than 6.3g sugar, more than 2.5g salt
Get help in switching to a healthy diet. In our next post you will find more information on this topic.