What does ingredient order on a label tell you? The first word says the most

The lineup rule: heaviest first, lightest last

In Vietnam, Decree 43/2017 on goods labeling requires ingredients to be listed from most to least by weight. Many other countries do the same.

That means:

• The first word is the heaviest thing in the product.
• The first three words usually make up most of the food's "body".
• The last words are only a pinch, like spices, colorings and preservatives.

A quick trick: if sugar is in the first three words, the food is likely quite sweet. If water comes first, the food is mostly water, like many bottled drinks.

The rule only gives the order, not the proportions. The first word could be 30% or 90%, and you cannot tell from the order alone.

The "split the sugar" trick to drop down the list

This is the most interesting part.

Say a packet of cookies is 25% sweeteners. If only one type of sugar were used, "sugar" would come second, right after wheat flour. Easy to spot.

But split it into three types at about 8% each: cane sugar, glucose syrup, malt. Now each one can slide down to the middle or the end of the list. The total sweetness is the same, but your eye easily skips over it.

Not every manufacturer does this on purpose. Often several sugars are blended to get the texture or color they want. But it helps to know, so you read the list correctly.

Other names for sugar you often see on labels:

Honey and coconut nectar sound natural, but to your body they are still sugar. They still count toward the sugar line in the nutrition table.

There is also maltodextrin. Technically it is not a sugar but a short-chain starch. Still, it digests very quickly, so many label readers keep an eye on it.

The product name says one thing, the list says another

"Strawberry flavored milk" and "strawberry milk" sound alike. But "strawberry flavored" may only need strawberry flavoring, not real strawberries.

The Codex Alimentarius general labeling standard has a useful principle: if a label emphasizes an ingredient, it should state that ingredient's percentage. That is why you often see "oats (12%)" or "orange juice (10%)".

That percentage is a golden clue. An "oat cookie" with 12% oats is 88% something else.

A few other phrases worth reading slowly:

• "Nature-identical flavoring", "artificial flavoring": the food has that smell, not necessarily that ingredient.
• "Cereal flour": check which cereal, and whether the word "whole grain" comes with it.
• "Vegetable oil": could be several different oils.

Is a shorter list always better?

Not really. This is a pretty common myth.

A jar of salted roasted peanuts has two ingredients: peanuts and salt. Short, but the salt may be quite a lot.

On the other hand, a tub of yogurt may add a few bacterial cultures and vitamin D. The list is longer, but it is no worse for it.

Additives are often listed with a code number. For example, INS 330 is citric acid, which occurs naturally in lemons. Approved additives have all been through safety assessment at permitted levels. A code number does not mean something scary.

What is most worth checking is still the first three words and how many names sugar has. Those two things tell you more than the length of the list.

Do not forget the allergen line

Many labels add a separate line like "Contains: milk, soy, wheat", or print these ingredients in bold within the list.

For people with allergies, this is the most important line on the whole pack. Watch for the phrase "may contain traces of peanuts" too. It means the product was made on the same line as peanuts.

Frequently asked questions