Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Pretest
• Concept Mapping
• Reading Text & Presentation
  • 15.1 The ASEAN food business
  • 15.2 ASEAN cooperation in the food business
  • 15.3 Regulatory harmonization in ASEAN
• Language Focus
• Activities
• Post test
• Resources
• Bibliography

 

What's on a food label?

Jake:    Let’s go in this supermarket and have a soda.
Katie:   Oh, I can’t.
Jake:    Why not?
Katie:   I’m trying to cut down on my sweets, so that I can lose some weight. I have been eating too much and I’m getting 
too plump.
Jake:    Silly! You are perfectly fine to me.
Katie:   You don’t say! You don’t put on any weight even though you have all that.
Jake:    I’m so thirsty. I need something to drink. Let’s have a look. How about some of this orange juice here? There are 7 components on the food label which are date marking, best before, product name, net weight, nutrient claims, nutrition information panel (NIP) and healthier choice symbol (HCS).
Katie:   I’m not going to have one.
Jake:    Well, the average daily values (DVs) consumption per day should be 2,000 and 2,500 calorie diets. Let see on the label. It contains product-specific information about this orange juice. When you look at the nutrition facts label, you will see the serving size and the number of servings in the package.
Katie:   What’s a serving size?
Jake:    Serving sizes are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods. They are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount such as the number of grams.
Katie:   How much energy you get from a serving, then?
Jake:    The number of servings you consume determines the number of calories you actually eat. In this case, there are 250 calories in one serving of this carton of orange juice.
Katie:   How many calories of fat are there in one serving?
Jake:    20 calories, which means almost half the calories in a single serving comes from fat.
Katie:   What if you drink the whole carton?
Jake:    Then, you would consume two servings, or 500 calories, and 40 would come from fat. According to the general guide to calories, 40 calories is low, 100 calories is moderate and 400 calories or more is high.
Katie:   I’m taking this then. Eating too much fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk of certain chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure.
Jake:    That’s right! Health experts recommend that you keep your intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol as low as possible as part of a nutritionally balanced diet.
Katie:   Look at those durian chips. Don’t they look delicious?
Jake:    They look so good. I’m really tempted to try a bite.
Katie:   Hold that thought! Let’s have a look at Home Fresh Mart over there. Eating a diet high in dietary fiber promotes healthy bowel function. In addition, a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, and which is low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Jake:    I see. If you are concerned about your intake of sugar, make sure that added sugar is not listed as one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars including corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup.

Question	Answer
1. What kinds of information you can find on a food label?
2. What kind of diet can reduce the risk of heart disease?
3. What can happen if you consume fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium?
4. What is average daily values (DVs)?
5. What are alternative names for added sugars?