When you buy fresh foods you know what you are getting. But today we also have a vast range of tempting processed foods to choose from. Making sense of their labels can be hard work too. Here’s some ideas to help you make the healthy choices you want to make. 

• Take time to sit down and plan what you will eat over the next few days or week. Now draw up a shopping list – and keep to it! That extra organisation can make all the difference when life takes over and time pressures kick in.
• Beware big packs of food, unless you use them to feed a big family. They may save a bit of money, but if they make it difficult for you to control how much you eat, they lose any cost benefit.
• Avoid the aisles crammed with foods you are trying to eat less of – buying foods you know you find hard to resist makes it harder work.
• Try not to shop when hungry, tired, down or stressed.
• Beware misleading nutritional claims (see below for more information)
• Ask yourself if the kids really needs all those unhealthy foods in the house?
• A good nutrition label lists nutrients per 100g of food and also per typical portion of the food.  It also shows how many portions there are in a pack. Make sure you aren’t eating a whole pack that is actually meant to serve two!
• Check and compare similar products – and choose the one with the lower calorie content per portion.