Learning how to read a food nutrition label in India comes down to a few habits: check the serving size first, notice whether numbers are given per 100 g or per serving, then scan the rows that matter most, energy, sugar, fat and sodium. Under rules set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), packaged foods must carry this information in a tabular nutrition panel, alongside an ingredients list arranged by weight. Once you know what each part means, you can compare two products in seconds and avoid being misled by front-of-pack claims. For more practical explainers, see newsreverse com.
What information must an Indian food label carry?
FSSAI regulations require packaged food to display nutritional information in a table. The panel typically shows values per 100 g for solids or per 100 ml for liquids, and, where a serving size is declared, per serving as well. The nutrients commonly listed include energy (in kilocalories), protein, carbohydrate with a breakdown of total sugars and added sugars, dietary fibre, total fat with saturated fat and trans fat, and sodium. Alongside the nutrition table, the label carries an ingredients list, the FSSAI licence number, a veg or non-veg mark, allergen information, and manufacturing and expiry or best-before dates. The nutrition panel is where you judge what the food does to your diet; the rest tells you what it is and whether it is safe to eat.
Why is serving size the first thing to check?
The serving size is the amount of the food the manufacturer expects you to eat at one time, and every per-serving figure hangs off it. The catch is that a pack often holds several servings. A snack packet might list values per 30 g serving while the pack contains 90 g, so eating the whole packet means tripling every number, three times the energy, three times the sugar, three times the salt. Manufacturers can make a product look modest by choosing a small serving size, so always read the per-serving figures next to the serving amount, then multiply by how much you truly consume. This single habit prevents most label misreadings.
Per 100g or per serving: which should I use?
Both have a job. Use the two columns for different purposes.
| Column | What it means | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g / 100 ml | A fixed reference amount | Comparing two products fairly, whatever the pack size |
| Per serving | The declared amount eaten at one time | Estimating what one portion adds to your day |
To compare two biscuits, look at the per 100 g column, since it puts both on the same footing. To judge how much sugar a single portion adds to your day, use the per-serving column, then scale it to your real intake. Mixing up the two is a common mistake: a product may look low in sugar per serving simply because the serving is tiny.
How do I read the energy value?
Energy is shown in kilocalories, usually written as kcal, and often per 100 g and per serving. It tells you how much energy the food provides. There is no single right number, because needs vary by age, sex, body size and activity, but the energy figure is the anchor for judging how calorie-dense a food is. A food with a high energy value per 100 g is energy-dense, useful to know if you are watching intake. Compare the energy per 100 g across similar products to see which is lighter, then check the serving size to translate that into a realistic portion.
What should I look for in sugar, fat and salt?
These three rows carry the most weight for everyday health, so read them closely.
- Sugars. Labels increasingly separate total sugars from added sugars. Total sugars include those naturally present, for example in milk or fruit, while added sugars are put in during processing. Added sugars are the ones to watch. A high added-sugar figure in a savoury product is a red flag worth noticing.
- Fat. Look beyond total fat to saturated fat and especially trans fat. Trans fat is best kept as low as possible, and FSSAI has moved to limit it in the food supply. A product listing trans fat above zero deserves a second look.
- Sodium. Sodium is the measure of salt. Many packaged and processed foods are surprisingly high in it. If you are managing blood pressure, the sodium row is one of the most useful numbers on the pack.
Reading these three together gives you a fast, honest read on how a processed food fits into a balanced diet, often a more reliable signal than any front-of-pack marketing.
What does the percentage RDA on the label mean?
Some labels show the percentage contribution to the Recommended Dietary Allowance, or RDA, which estimates how much of a day’s allowance one serving provides. FSSAI bases this on a reference adult diet, generally taken as around 2000 kcal of energy per day, with reference values for total fat, trans fat, sugar and salt. So a label showing that a serving provides a certain percentage of the daily sugar reference is telling you how much of a typical adult’s daily budget that one portion uses up. Remember it is a reference, not a personal target; your own needs may be higher or lower. Still, the percentage RDA is a handy way to sense whether a single serving is a small nibble or a large chunk of the day’s allowance.
How do I use the ingredients list?
The ingredients list is one of the most revealing parts of any pack, because ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. Whatever appears first makes up the largest share of the product. If sugar, refined flour or an oil sits near the top, that tells you what the food is mostly made of, regardless of the claims on the front. Reading the first three or four ingredients is a quick sanity check: a fruit drink whose first ingredient is water and second is sugar is mostly sugar water, whatever the label pictures suggest. The ingredients list also flags additives and allergens, which matters for anyone with a food sensitivity.
How do I compare two products at the shelf?
A worked example makes the method concrete. Suppose you are choosing between two packs of breakfast cereal. Ignore the front-of-pack pictures and go straight to the nutrition panel, then use the per 100 g column so the two are on equal footing regardless of pack size. Compare the added sugars first, since cereals vary widely, then sodium, then energy. The pack with clearly lower added sugar and sodium per 100 g is usually the better everyday choice, even if the other one shouts about vitamins on the front. Finally, glance at the ingredients list: if sugar is among the first two or three ingredients, that confirms what the panel suggested. The whole comparison takes under a minute once the routine is familiar, and it cuts through marketing far more reliably than brand names or packaging design.
What about front-of-pack labels and star ratings?
Alongside the detailed nutrition panel on the back, regulators around the world have introduced simpler front-of-pack systems, such as warning symbols or star ratings, to help shoppers judge a product at a glance. India has been developing its own front-of-pack labelling approach, and the exact design and rollout can change over time, so check the FSSAI source for the current status and rules rather than relying on a fixed description here. Whatever the front-of-pack scheme, it is meant to summarise, not replace, the full nutrition table. When a simple front-of-pack rating and the detailed panel are both available, use the rating for a quick sense and the panel for the real detail, especially for sugar, fat and sodium.
Should I trust front-of-pack claims?
Front-of-pack words like natural, wholesome or high in a nutrient are marketing, and they do not replace the nutrition panel. A product labelled with no added sugar can still be high in total sugars or energy; a product claiming to be a source of protein may also be high in salt or fat. Treat the front of the pack as advertising and the nutrition table and ingredients list as the facts. When a claim and the panel seem to disagree, believe the panel. This habit alone will sharpen your food choices more than any single diet rule.
A quick label-reading routine
Put it together into a simple sequence you can run in a few seconds at the shelf.
- Check the serving size and how many servings the pack holds.
- Decide whether to read per 100 g (to compare) or per serving (to judge a portion).
- Scan energy, added sugars, saturated and trans fat, and sodium.
- Glance at the percentage RDA to gauge how much of a day one serving uses.
- Read the first few ingredients to see what the food really is.
- Ignore the marketing on the front and trust the panel.
Do this a few times and it becomes second nature. Because thresholds and rules can be updated, check the FSSAI source for the latest requirements if you need precise current figures. For more everyday guides, browse the lifestyle section, and see our explainer on the safe AQI level for outdoor exercise for another practical health topic.