supermarkets&39 &39healthy&39 food are not always good for youthe multitude of labels on food packaging can wrongfoot even the most health conscious consumers. keen to increase your fibre intake you might think cereal labeled "high fibre" will do the trick, but how much salt and sugar are you pouring into your breakfast bowl, too you might opt for "lite" crisps believing they are low in fat, but they could contain more calories than the standard version of another brand.ec regulations have changed in recent years to stop food manufacturers making wild health claims on packaging, but some experts believe consumers are still being misled. professor mike rayner, an expert in population health at oxford university, says the eu has &ldquofailed miserably&rdquo to come up with a labeling system to help consumers make healthy choices. he would like to see packaging carry a nutrition profile, such as the system used in australia, which rates a food&rsquos overall healthiness on a scale from ½ a star to 5 stars, with highstarred foods considered the better nutritional choice.&bull why sugar is ruining our health&ldquolabeling and health claims on packaging are not good guides to healthiness,&rdquo professor rayner says. &ldquoif the packet says the product is high in fibre or contains whole grains or has added vitamins and minerals, that doesn&rsquot really mean anything, because the product might also contain high levels of salt or sugar or saturated fat. these terms create a halo effect around products to make them appear healthy when they might not be. &ldquo he added that many food manufacturers opted not to use traffic light labels that indicate low, medium or high amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt.many manufacturers choose not to use traffic light labels alamycharlotte stirlingreed, a registered nutritionist and media expert with the nutrition society, urges consumers to avoid packaged food when possible or else read nutrition labels carefully &ndash not the front of packets &ndash before buying. &ldquomost food packages are misleading. as consumers, we often want to believe that if something is making a health claim or even that its images denote health, it&rsquos going to be good for us,&rdquo she says. &ldquoit&39s hard to understand that some of these &39healthy options&39 are nothing but very clever marketing. it&39s so important to look beyond the front of packet and check out what&39s actually in the ingredients list before making the final decision.&rdquo&bull how to kick the sugar habitthe guide below will give you the full picture behind common food labels.the claim light or litethe truth must contain 30 per cent less fat or calories than the standard version, but does not mean the product is low fat or healthy. for example, &lsquolightlite&rsquo crisps can contain the same amount of fat or calories as the standard version of another brand. a product light on fat can also be heavy on calories by way of added sugar.the claim lowfatthe truth must contain less than 3g of fat per 100g for food or 1.5g of fat per 100ml for drinks. but this does not mean the product is healthy or lowcalorie. many low fat foods and drinks are loaded with added sugar and can be high in calories.a lowfat yoghurt might be high in calories alamythe claim no added sugarthe truth must have no sugar or sweetener added, but does not mean the product is low in sugar or sugarfree. the product could contain natural sugars, such as those found in dairy and fruit, in which case the label should state &lsquocontains naturally occurring sugars&rsquo. these products are often high in fat andor calories.the claim fatfreethe truth must contain less than 0.5g fat per 100g, but again, this does not mean the product is healthy or lowcalorie. the claim sometimes appears on products that do not contain fat anyway, such as sweets, and can disguise high levels of unhealthy ingredients such as sugar. nutritionists point out that fatfree is not necessarily desirable anyway, as good fats are essential in a balanced diet. 
