subject: 12 Tips To Make Your Shopping Healthier [print this page] Nutrition is only one factor in your decision on what to buy at the supermarket. Taste, convenience, cost and whether the rest of the family will eat it also come into the decision. But it's important to rank nutrition high up the purchasing scale if you want to make inroads to a better daily diet.
1. Be prepared
Shop with a list; it will save you time and money, plus prevent impulse buys.
2. Never shop when hungry
Research shows you tend to buy more and more of those things that you really don't need when you shop on an empty stomach.
3. Nutrition at your fingertips
Learn where to look quickly to discriminate between a confusing nutrition claim (such as 97% fat free) and the facts. The Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) is the table on the back of the pack that contains the amount of nutrients in a serve and in 100 grams of the food.
4. Check out the kids
When you take the kids to the supermarket, try to steer clear of the children's brands of lollies, biscuits, muesli bars and toys at eye level to attract their attention. And, go for the confectionery-free checkouts to make that long wait less frazzled.
5. Buy in season
The smartest and cheapest way to reach your goal of eating two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day is to buy in season - they are also at their lowest price and at peak for quality.
6. Per 100 grams
Run your eye down the 'Per 100g' column on the nutrition panel to make product comparisons. Compare the fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium between products and choose those that are
lowest.
7. Stay safe
Steer clear of damaged packaging. You can't guarantee the safety of the food within if cans are dented, cartons are leaking or packaging is torn. Keep this in mind and you can avoid being one of the 20% of Australians who suffer a bout of food poisoning from poor food safety practices.
8. Super sleuth!
If you have food allergies or simply want to know what's in your food, check the pack for food additives. Additives are found in the list of ingredients, stated by their function, say FOOD ACID, followed by either the chemical name, say CITRIC ACID or by code number, 330.
9. Less salt
We all eat too much salt. Look for salt-reduced and no-added-salt food versions of your favourite products as these will generally have one-third to one-half less salt. On the Nutrition information panel, a low salt food must have less than 120mg of sodium per 100 grams.
10. Baked not fried
BAKED NOT FRIED often found on snack foods implying the food is low fat. For some snacks, like pretzels, this is true, but for others, like biscuit snacks, it means they are lower in fat (around 25 per cent) but not necessarily low in fat. Check the nutrition label if in doubt.
11. Skip that aisle!
If you don't need food from a particular aisle in the supermarket, don't visit it. This especially applies to the confectionery and soft drink isles. Simply pushing your trolley past them is enough to tempt you into purchases that you don't need and are probably no good for you.
12. Save the freezer until last
Don't purchase items from the freezer or refrigerated cabinet until the end of your shopping trip to ensure they have minimal time to defrost which increases the likelihood of spoilage. An insulated cooler bag is handy for storing frozen food in the car on the trip home.
