How to Read an Indian Food Label (And What Actually Matters)

Front-of-pack claims are marketing, not nutrition facts. 'Low fat' often means higher sugar to make up for lost flavour. 'No added sugar' doesn't rule out naturally high sugar content or artificial sweeteners. The only way to know what's actually in a packaged product is to flip it over.

On the nutrition panel, the numbers that matter most are per-serving (not per-100g, which can undersell how much you're actually eating), added sugar, sodium, and the type of fat listed — trans fat in particular, which should ideally read zero.

The ingredients list is just as useful: ingredients are listed in descending order by quantity, so if sugar or refined flour appears in the first two or three ingredients, that tells you more than any front-of-pack claim.

It takes an extra ten seconds at the grocery store, but it's the single most useful habit for anyone trying to actually understand what they're eating.