How to Read Food Labels for Kids: A Parent's Guide
How to read food labels in five minutes: ingredient order, hidden sugar names, per-100g vs per-serving panels, allergen rules and claims to ignore.
Here is how to read food labels in one pass: check the first three ingredients, count the sugar names, find the sugar and salt lines on the nutrition panel, and glance at the allergen statement. Ignore the front of the packet entirely. Everything the manufacturer has to tell you by law is on the back or side, and everything they choose to tell you is on the front.
This guide covers the label rules in the US, the EU and UK, and Australia, because they differ in a few places that trip parents up. It pairs with our guides on food additives to avoid for kids and ultra-processed food and NOVA.
Start with the ingredient list
Ingredients are listed by weight
In every market Milo covers, ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight at the time of making. The first ingredient is what there is most of. So a “fruit snack” whose list starts with “glucose syrup, sugar, apple puree concentrate” is a lolly with a bit of apple in it.
A quick habit: read the first three ingredients out loud. If sugar, a syrup, refined flour or an oil appears in that top three, the food is mostly made of that.
Shorter is usually better
A short list of things you would find in your own kitchen is a good sign. A long list with numbers, “flavour”, “emulsifier” and “colour” is a sign of an ultra-processed product. Neither is a verdict on its own, but length is the fastest first filter you have.
Watch for percentage labelling
Australia and the EU require the percentage of a “characterising” ingredient, so a strawberry yoghurt must say something like “strawberries (6%)”. That number tells you far more than the picture on the front. The US does not require this.
Added sugar has more than 60 names
Manufacturers split sugar across several ingredients so no single one lands at the top of the list. Three different sugars in positions four, five and six can add up to more than the ingredient in position one.
Names that mean added sugar include:
- Ending in -ose: sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, lactose (when added)
- Syrups: glucose syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, golden syrup, maple syrup, agave syrup, malt syrup, invert syrup
- “Natural” sounding: honey, coconut sugar, rapadura, panela, date paste, molasses, treacle, fruit juice concentrate, apple puree concentrate
- Technical: maltodextrin, evaporated cane juice, barley malt, caramel, dextrin, oligofructose syrup
Fruit juice concentrate is the one that fools most parents. It is fruit that has had its water and fibre removed until it is essentially syrup. The US label counts it as added sugar; the EU and Australia do not always, which is one reason to look at the total sugar number too.
The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars make up less than 10% of a child’s daily energy, and says under 5% would bring extra benefits. For a young child that is roughly a few teaspoons a day, and a single flavoured yoghurt or juice box can use it up.
The nutrition panel: per 100 g or per serving?
This is where the three markets differ most, and where comparisons go wrong.
| Market | Mandatory columns | Added sugar shown separately? |
|---|---|---|
| United States (Nutrition Facts) | Per serving only | Yes, “Includes Xg Added Sugars” |
| EU and UK (nutrition declaration) | Per 100 g / 100 ml; per portion optional | No, only total “of which sugars” |
| Australia and NZ (Nutrition Information Panel) | Per serving and per 100 g | No, only total sugars |
Why per 100 g matters
The per-100 g column is the only fair way to compare two products, because manufacturers choose their own serving size. A cereal with a 30 g serving will look lower in sugar than one with a 45 g serving even if they are identical. In Australia and the EU, always read the per-100 g column. In the US, check the serving size at the top of the panel first, then ask yourself whether your child eats one serving or three.
Rough per-100 g yardsticks
These come from the UK front-of-pack traffic light system, which is a useful guide anywhere:
| Nutrient | Low (green) | High (red) |
|---|---|---|
| Total sugars | 5 g or less | more than 22.5 g |
| Saturated fat | 1.5 g or less | more than 5 g |
| Salt | 0.3 g or less | more than 1.5 g |
| Fat | 3 g or less | more than 17.5 g |
For drinks, halve the numbers. “Low” for a food is not the same as “healthy”, but a product that is red on two or three lines is not an everyday food.
The 5/20 rule (US labels)
US labels show a “% Daily Value” for each nutrient. The FDA’s rule of thumb: 5% DV or less per serving is low, 20% DV or more is high. Use it to aim low for added sugars, saturated fat and sodium, and high for fibre, calcium, iron and potassium. One caution: the Daily Values are based on an adult eating 2,000 calories, so a 20% figure is a larger share for a four-year-old.
The EU uses a similar “% Reference Intake” and Australia uses “% Daily Intake”, both optional. Treat them the same way.
Allergens: three different systems
Allergen labelling is where a mistake matters most, and the rules differ enough that a parent moving between countries can be caught out.
- EU and UK: 14 regulated allergens must be emphasised inside the ingredient list, usually in bold, capitals or underlined. There is no separate “Contains” box required, so you read the list itself.
- Australia and New Zealand: since 2024, Plain English Allergen Labelling requires allergens to be written in plain words (so “milk”, not “casein” alone), shown in bold in the ingredient list, and repeated in a separate “Contains” summary statement.
- United States: nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and, since 2023, sesame) must be declared either in brackets in the ingredient list or in a “Contains” statement below it.
In all three markets, “may contain” and “made in a facility that also processes” statements are voluntary. Their absence does not mean the risk is absent, and their presence does not tell you how big the risk is. If your child has a diagnosed allergy, follow the plan you agreed with your GP, paediatrician or allergist.
Front-of-pack claims that mean very little
The front of the packet is marketing space. Some phrases are regulated and useful; many are not.
| Claim | What it really means |
|---|---|
| “Natural” | No agreed legal definition for most foods in the US, EU or Australia. Sugar is natural. |
| “Made with real fruit” | No minimum amount. Often fruit juice concentrate or a few percent of puree. |
| “No added sugar” | Regulated, but the product can still be high in sugar from juice, dried fruit or milk. Check the total. |
| “No artificial colours” | Says nothing about preservatives, sweeteners or emulsifiers. |
| “Source of fibre” / “high in protein” | Regulated thresholds, but often used on products that are also high in sugar. |
| “Lite” / “light” | Usually 25 to 30% less of one nutrient than the standard version. The standard version may have been very high. |
| “Kids”, cartoon characters, sports stars | Nothing to do with nutrition. |
The pattern is simple: a claim tells you about one thing the manufacturer wants you to notice. The panel tells you about everything.
The five-minute label checklist
Save or print this and stick it on the fridge until it becomes habit.
Ingredient list
- What are the first three ingredients? Would I cook with them?
- How many different sugar names can I count?
- How many numbered additives, “flavours”, “colours” or “emulsifiers”?
- Is there a percentage next to the ingredient in the product name?
Nutrition panel
- Am I reading per 100 g (AU, EU) or per serving (US)? Is the serving realistic?
- Sugar per 100 g: under 5 g is low, over 22.5 g is high (halve for drinks).
- Salt per 100 g: under 0.3 g is low, over 1.5 g is high.
- US only: added sugars, sodium and saturated fat under 5% DV? Fibre over 20%?
Allergens
- Bold words in the list (EU, UK, AU) or “Contains” statement (US, AU).
- Any “may contain” line, and does it matter for my child?
Front of pack
- Ignore it, then check whether the back agrees with it.
How Milo helps
Doing all of that for every packet is not realistic on a school-night shop. Milo does it in one scan: it reads the ingredient list and nutrition panel, gives the product a Milo Score from 0 to 100, and writes a short “Milo’s take” that names the ingredients that pushed the score up or down. Set your family’s allergens once and every scan shows an “Allergens detected” badge if the ingredients or traces match. Milo is free to download on the App Store, with no ads and no brand deals.
Common questions
Should I look at calories first?
For most children, no. Kids need energy to grow, and calorie counts vary mostly with portion size. Sugar, salt, saturated fat and the length of the ingredient list tell you more about food quality than the energy figure. If you have concerns about your child’s growth or weight, talk to your GP or paediatrician rather than counting calories.
Is “total sugars” the same as “added sugars”?
No. Total sugars include the natural sugar in milk (lactose) and whole fruit. Added sugars are the ones put in during manufacturing, including honey and juice concentrate. Only the US label separates them. In the EU and Australia, use the ingredient list to judge how much of the total is added.
What if the label is in another language?
The order-by-weight rule, per-100 g column and bold allergens work the same across the EU, so you can still read the structure. E numbers are the same in every EU language, which is one reason to learn the handful in our additives guide.
Does a healthy-looking label mean the food is minimally processed?
Not necessarily. A protein bar can have a good-looking panel and twenty ingredients. Processing is a separate question from nutrients, which is why we wrote a guide to the NOVA groups.