The ingredients list on a food product shows you all the ingredients and food additives that are
used to make the product.

These ingredients are listed in the order of amount. The first ingredient on the list is the one that
is present in the largest amount in the food product, and the last ingredient on the list is the one
that is present in the smallest amount.
 

If the food product is high in saturated fat, added salt or added sugar, these will be listed as one
of the first three ingredients. Some common names for fat, salt and sugar that you may see in an
ingredients list include:^1,2
 

Fat: oil, shortening, cocoa butter, cream
Salt: baking powder, booster, sodium, meat or yeast extract, monosodium glutamate (MSG),
seasoning, stock cubes
Sugar: glucose, sucrose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, maltodextrin, molasses, honey, golden
syrup, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, maple syrup
Sometimes you may see ingredients in brackets like this: pasta (flour, egg, water). These are the
ingredients that make up the ingredient before the opening bracket, which is pasta in this
example.
 

References:
1. Victorian Government Department of Health. Reading food labels – tucker talk tips. Better
Health Channel, 2015. Available from:
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/reading-food-labels-tucker-talktips
2. Victorian Government Department of Health. Food labels. Better Health Channel, 2020.
Available from: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/food-labels