Label classroom

Read any label in 60 seconds.

Five habits that work on almost every packet in an Indian shop.

Try the sugar math
The five habits

Turn the pack over. Then do this.

  1. 01

    Ignore the front first

    The front is advertising. Turn the pack over before you decide anything.

  2. 02

    Read the first three ingredients

    Ingredients are listed from most to least by weight. If sugar, maida or palm oil is in the top three, that is what you are mostly eating.

  3. 03

    Always use the "per 100 g" column

    It lets you compare any two products fairly, whatever the pack size or serving size.

  4. 04

    Turn sugar into teaspoons

    Divide grams of sugar by about 4.2. That gives you teaspoons, which are easier to picture.

  5. 05

    Find sugar's other names

    Glucose syrup, invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose and fructose are all forms of sugar. Several of them can hide sugar near the top of the list.

    Glucose syrupInvert sugarMaltodextrinDextroseFructose
Try the math

Sugar to teaspoons

Enter the total sugars per 100 g and the pack weight. Each cube is one teaspoon.

25 g sugar ÷ 4.2 g per tsp ≈6.0 tsp per 100 gWhole 150 g pack ≈ 37.5 g sugar ≈ 8.9 tsp

Practise on real decodes.

See the five habits at work on everyday packs, with the math shown.

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