Many low-fat foods 'stuffed full of calories'

:nhs.uk

2012/12/22

822

The Guardian says that "many 'low fat' foods have a similar calorie count to standard products".

The news follows a press release by Which? magazine that said many "low fat" and "light" food products may not be the healthy options that consumers think they are.

Foods can be low in fat but still have a relatively high calorie count if they have high levels of sugar.

Which? found that six in ten consumers reported eating these foods under the misconception that they were healthier than standard products when they actually often contained a higher amount of sugar and the same number of calories.

For example, Which? found that a standard McVitie’s chocolate digestive contained 85 calories; a light one had 77, and the 8 calorie "saving" could be burned off in less than a minute of swimming or running.

The consumer body's overall advice for people trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight is to read food labels carefully, particualry labels related to calorie content (sometimes calories are listed as kcals – 1,000 calories – so a kcal of 1.5 would be 1,500 calories).

Ultimately, consumers should never assume that "low-fat" or "light" means "healthy".