There is an increasing number of food products labelled ‘lite’ (or light). The word is often taken to mean low in fat, but it can have many other meanings including light in taste, light in colour (for example of meat), light in caffeine, light in salt, light in sugar, lightly toasted or even lightly textured. To find out which is meant, read the label carefully.
Nutritional value
Any food product marked ‘lite’ (or light) must carry a nutritional panel. The important thing to remember when buying such products is to read the label to find out what is meant, for example:
‘lite’ chocolate isn’t low in fat but low in sugar.
‘lite’ margarine may have less fat than other margarines but still contains fat. For example one product had a 49% fat content despite containing 39% less fat than others.
‘lite’ cheese, a good source of calcium, still has around 24% fat.
‘lite’ ice-creams range from 0% -5% fat (normal ice-cream has around 10% fat).
‘lite’ milk has about 1.4% fat but the lightest milk of all is skim milk, which has no fat but does not claim to be ‘lite’ on the label.
Note: Some light foods do not have much flavour so you can end up eating more than normal to compensate, which can outweigh the benefits of eating a light food in the first place.
Further information
For more of Rosemary Stanton’s advice on food and nutrition consult the revised edition of Rosemary Stanton’s Complete Book of Food and Nutrition (Simon & Schuster, rrp $29.95).