Every Pure Bites article tagged labels.
Nutrition & health
What is the red warning label on packaged food, and is it mandatory yet?
India’s food regulator has proposed a red hexagon on the front of packaged food that is high in fat, sugar or salt, and the Supreme Court has reserved its order. What is proposed, what is still undecided, and how to read the back of a pack in the meantime.
Smart snacking
How much salt is too much, and how much is in the namkeen I eat?
WHO and India’s dietary guidelines both set the limit at 5 g of salt a day — about a teaspoon — and nearly half of Indians are over it. How to turn the sodium on a namkeen label into grams of salt, and what a handful costs you.
Nutrition & health
Are sugar-free sweets actually healthy, and are they safe for a diabetic relative?
A sugar-free sweet swaps the sugar for a polyol or a sweetener and keeps the ghee, khoya and flour. Maltitol still raises blood glucose, polyols carry a laxative warning by law, and WHO advises against sweeteners for weight control. How to read the box before Diwali.
Fresh & quality
Is packaged namkeen “ultra-processed”, and is homemade really any better if it is also fried?
India is the fastest-growing market for ultra-processed food in the world, and the packet of namkeen on the shelf is part of that number. Fried farsan from a kitchen is not — but it is still fried. What the NOVA system actually counts, what a packet adds that a kadai does not, and where “fresh” makes no difference at all.
Smart snacking
Is the palm oil in my namkeen bad for me, and how do I even tell if it is in there?
Palm oil is legal, cheap and in most packaged namkeen — the government confirmed as much in Parliament this August. Four label checks that tell you in half a minute whether your packet has it, what the fuss is actually about, and what it is not.
Nutrition & health
Everyone says sabudana is healthy for fasting — is it actually?
Sabudana has a reputation as a light, healthy fasting food. Per 100 g it is 358 kcal, 88 g of starch and 0.2 g of protein — pure energy. That is not a reason to stop eating it; it is a reason to know what the peanuts and curd next to it are doing.
Smart snacking
Healthy snacks still contain ingredients I don’t understand.
You do not need to understand every word on a packet. Four checks, in order, tell you most of what the packet is trying not to say.
Nutrition & health
People say besan snacks are “healthier” and I want to know whether that is true.
Besan carries real protein and fibre, which is more than most snack flours can say. Here are the numbers, and an honest account of what frying does to the picture.