Why is reading food labels so important? And what if we don’t?

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November 20, 2025

On November 20, 2025

Why is reading food labels so important? And what if we don’t?

They contain all the information needed to help consumers make the right choices about what they eat. Despite a clear increase in conscious food purchasing since 2000, however, labels remain a mystery to many people.

A study of European consumers found that selecting a product takes an average of 35 seconds, which is much longer than in the past. This seems to be due to the increased amount of information on each label. Considering how busy we all are, it’s hard to imagine that people buying an average of at least five items spend around three minutes learning more about their purchases!
We are certainly partly to blame for minimising their importance by blindly trusting the familiarity of a product — in other words, the power of marketing — rather than its actual nutritional value. However, the blame must also lie with policymakers, who do not encourage choices that make food labels easier to read.

Giving up this great right costs us dearly, especially if we want to eat healthily, sustainably and economically: the bill is paid by either our health, the planet or our pockets — or, unfortunately, all three.

What information do food labels contain?

Lots, and all of it is essential!
If we don’t understand the importance of reading food labels, we can never really know what we are putting on our plates.
By law, manufacturers must normally declare the following information:

The trade name: the name and description under which the food is marketed. For example, we will only know whether the fish is frozen or fresh by reading the label.
The list of ingredients: all ingredients present are listed in descending order (from the most to least abundant).
The expiry or best-before date (TMC): indicates how long the product can be consumed for.
The net quantity: the total weight of the product in the package.
The manufacturer’s details: the name and address of the person responsible for the product.
The declaration of allergenic substances: allergens such as gluten, lactose or nuts must be highlighted.

Depending on the type of product and at the manufacturer’s discretion, the following information may also be found on the label:

Quantity of specific ingredients: characteristic ingredients or those present in significant quantities (e.g. olive oil in baked goods or fresh fruit in jams or drinks) are declared.
Nutritional declaration: the nutritional table consisting of values such as energy, fats, carbohydrates and proteins, indicated per 100 g or 100 ml and/or per portion.
Country of origin or provenance: is mandatory for certain products, such as meat, fruit and vegetables. However, given consumer preferences, a wide variety of foods now indicate their country of origin. Personally, I prefer not to buy products that do not state their country of origin.
Production batch information: is very useful for traceability purposes, as we see in cases of product recalls due to pathogens or contaminants. (but usually not necessary for consumers).
Actual alcohol content by volume is mandatory for beverages with more than 1.2% alcohol.
Storage and use instructions: are crucial for providing information on how to store and/or prepare food (e.g. ‘cook before eating’, ‘consume cold’, etc.), and are essential for avoiding food waste.

What exactly is the risk of not reading food labels?

As we saw in the previous chapter, food labels are important, so consumers who are not interested in these 'details' will never know whether they are buying a product that:

is made with low-quality ingredients, or
is very close to its expiry date, or already expired;
weighs less than its direct competitor;
contains ingredients that may cause allergies or intolerances;
comes from the other side of the world, where the same laws on the use of pesticides and herbicides may not apply and labour is underpaid;
is excessively high in calories and/or fat and/or sugar and/or salt;
is rich in additives and preservatives;
does not respect seasonality, and so on.

TO GET YOUR FREE SEASONAL CALENDAR OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Conclusions

In this short article, we have learned how important it is reading food labels, and that healthy and budget-friendly grocery shopping is impossible without understanding them. Therefore, we should take the time to choose the best products for us, rather than allowing the marketing strategies of manufacturers to dictate our health. If you really can't find the time to study the labels in depth, at least read this mini guide I've prepared for you: 'Decoding food labels in 6 steps'.

Enjoy reading, and happy food revolution!