Nutrition Labelling and Management of Diabetes Mellitus

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Nutrition Labelling and Management of Diabetes
Mellitus
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Diabetes Mellitus

• A metabolic disorder
• People with diabetes have either deficiency or
  resistance to insulin, a hormone produced by the
  pancreas. As a result, it affects the use of
  glucose in their bodies.
• Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to severe
  complications, such as retinopathy, heart
  diseases, renal failure, and stroke.

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Dietary Management of Diabetes

• Dietary management and appropriate amount of
  physical activity play important roles in
  diabetic control
• Balanced diet with a variety of foods
• 3 Low, 1 High principle, i.e. low fat, low
  sodium (or salt), low sugars and high fibre
• Reduce intake of saturated fat, trans fat and
  sodium can lower the risk of developing heart
  diseases and hypertension
• Controlling intake of energy for the purpose of
  weight reduction or maintenance.

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Dietary Management of Diabetes

• Apart from general healthy eating advice, people
  with diabetes need to be aware of their daily
  intake of carbohydrates, including sugars.
• The amount of foods, particularly carbohydrates
  (including sugars), eaten by people with diabetes
  during mealtime should be matched with their
  diabetic conditions, medications and daily living
  needs, and kept consistent on a day-to-day basis
  for stabilizing blood glucose level.
• People with diabetes should discuss their
  diabetic meal plans with a dietitian or
  healthcare professional, then make use of
  nutrition labels for choosing appropriate
  pre-packaged foods. A person with diabetes should
  not follow other peoples meal plans.

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What Kinds of Food Contain Carbohydrates?

• Cereals (Starch)
• Root vegetables (Starch)
• Legumes (Starch)
• Dairy (Lactose)
• Fruits (Fructose)
• Sugars and Sugary food (Sucrose)

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Diabetes and Nutrition Labelling

• Using nutrition label can help people with
  diabetes to understand and find out the
  carbohydrates contents (including sugars) in food
  products for meeting the needs of the personal
  meal plan.

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Read and Use Nutrition Labels
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Examples of Recommended Format of Nutrition Label
Tabular format
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Examples of Recommended Format of Nutrition Label
Linear format (for small packages with total
surface area of less than 200 cm2)
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Required Nutrients on Nutrition Labels

• 17 (energy plus seven nutrients specified for
  labelling) i.e. energy, protein, total fat,
  saturated fat, trans fat, carbohydrates, sugars
  and sodium.
• Nutrient(s) involved in nutrition claim(s) (when
  the nutrition claim is on any type of fat, the
  amount of cholesterol must be declared as well).
• For other nutrients, declaration is voluntary

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Making Use of Nutrition Label

• Consumers can
• Compare the nutritional content among different
  foods for a healthier choice, e.g. choose food
  that is lower in fat, sodium (or salt) and sugars
• Understand the nutritional content of food and
  estimate their contribution to the overall diet
• To meet individuals dietary needs

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Three Simple Steps toRead Nutrition Label
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Three Simple Steps toRead Nutrition Label

• Step 1 
• Take note of the reference amount of food being
  used in the nutrition label
• Step 2 
• Read the energy and nutrient content together
  with the reference amount
• Step 3 
• Refer to the percentage Nutrient Reference Value
  (NRV), if available, to see if the food contains
  a lot or a little of energy or a nutrient in the
  food

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Step 1 Take note of the reference amount offood
being used in the nutrition label

• Expressed as per 100 g (or per 100 mL) of food

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Step 1 Take note of the reference amount offood
being used in the nutrition label

• Expressed as per serving (the serving size (in g
  or mL) and the no. of servings must be specified
  on the package)

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Step 1 Take note of the reference amount offood
being used in the nutrition label

• Expressed as per package (if the package contains
  only a single serving )

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Step 2 Read the energy and nutrient content
together with the reference amount

1. Use nutrition label to compare between products
2. Use nutrition label to calculate the amount of
   energy and nutrients you get from food

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Step 2A Use nutrition label to compare between
products

• Products with nutritional content expresssed in
  the SAME reference amount

If reference amount is the SAME, you CAN COMPARE
between the products DIRECTLY
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Step 2A Use nutrition label to compare between
products

• Products with nutritional content expresssed in
  DIFFERENT reference amounts

If reference amounts are DIFFERENT, you CANNOT
COMPARE between the products DIRECTLY
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Step 2A Use nutrition label tocompare between
products

• Products with nutritional content expresssed in
  DIFFERENT reference amounts

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Step 2BUse nutrition label to calculate the
amount of energy and nutrients you get from food

• The more you eat, the more you get
• If you eat 1 serving of biscuit
• Get 8 g of fat, 3.5 g of saturated fat
• If you eat 2 servings of biscuit
• Get 16 g of fat, 7 g of saturated fat

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Step 2BUse nutrition label to calculate the
amount of energy and nutrients you get from food

• Energy and nutrient content expressed as per 100
  g/mL

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Step 3 Refer to the percentage Nutrient
Reference Value (NRV), if available, to see if
the food contains a lot or a little of energy or
a nutrient in the food

• NRV is usually on a scale from 0 to 100.

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Step 3 Refer to the percentage Nutrient
Reference Value (NRV), if available, to see if
the food contains a lot or a little of energy or
a nutrient in the food

• For nutrients that needed to limit their intake
• E.g. total fat, saturated fat, sodium and sugars
• Look for foods that have lower NRV
• Get enough of nutrients that are good for health
• E.g. dietary fibre
• Look for foods that have higher NRV

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Use Nutrition Label to Choose Healthy Food
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Principles of Healthy Eating

• Choose a variety of food and eat cereals as the
  largest portion of food in every meal.
• Eat a lot of vegetables and fruit.
• Reduce the consumption of foodstuffs with high
  salt, fat and sugar content as well as those
  which are preserved.
• A daily fluid intake of 6 to 8 glasses (including
  clear soup, fruit juice and tea).
• Take meals regularly and in adequate amounts.
• (Source of information Department of Health)

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Nutrition Labelling is a Useful Tool for
Practising Healthy Eating

• Nutrition label and nutrition claim can help
  consumers choose healthier food in accordance
  with healthy eating principles and the Food
  Pyramid, e.g.
• Choose biscuits lower in fat and sodium (or salt)
• Choose dairy products lower in fat
• Choose beverages lower in sugars

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How to Choose PrepackagedFood for People with
Diabetes?
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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes

• Find out the contents of carbohydrates (including
  sugars)
• 3 Low, 1 High dietary principle
• Reduce intake of saturated fat and trans fat

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes

• Take note of relevant nutrition claim as a quick
  screening tool and
• Take three simple steps to read nutrition label

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes

• Pay attention to nutrition claims, for example
• Sugars free does not mean that the product does
  not contain sugars or carbohydrates (e.g.
  prepackaged sugars free moon cake)
• No added sugars means that sugars or
  ingredients that contain sugars for sweetening
  purpose are not added during the food production
  process. The product may still contain sugars
  that are naturally present. (e.g. prepackaged
  pure fruit juice)
• Less sweet means lower sweet intensity.
  Sweetness is a taste which is a subjective
  experience. Statements on sweetness may not be
  directly related to its sugars content.
  Therefore, a product with the less sweet claim
  does not necessarily mean that the product has
  low or no sugars.

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes

• Nutrition claim only gives a rough idea about the
  content of a particular nutrient, one should not
  make a food choice solely on the basis of a
  nutrition claim. In order to eat healthily, we
  should take note of other nutrients as well. For
  example, when buying a product with a low
  sugars claim, one should take note of the
  content of fat and other nutrients.

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes
Nutrient content claims on sugars are classified
into Free and Low claims. Specific Conditions
of Nutrient Content Claims
Claim Free No Zero Without Does not contain Claim Low Little Low source Few Contains a small amount of
Meaning of Claim Insignificant amount of a particular nutrient found in the food Meaning of Claim A small amount of nutrient found in the food
Example Sugars free (Contain not more than 0.5g of sugars per 100g/mL of food) Example Low sugars (Contain not more than 5g of sugars per 100g/mL of food)
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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes

• Three Simple Steps to Read Nutrition Label
• Step 1 
• Take note of the reference amount of food being
  used in the nutrition label
• Step 2 
• Read and compare the nutritional content
• After selecting the food that is healthier,
  people with diabetes should calculate the intake
  amount of carbohydrates, so that they can
  calculate the intake amount of other foods in the
  day
• Step 3 
• Refer to the percentage Nutrient Reference Value
  (NRV) (If available)

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes (Example 1)

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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes (Example 2)
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Choosing Prepackaged Foods for People with
Diabetes (Example 3)
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ENDS