Learn to read a label
What the back of an Indian pack actually tells you, and what the front of it leaves out. Every figure quoted on these pages comes from a label we have read and hand-checked, described by category rather than by brand.
Guides
- How a LabelSaaf score is calculatedThe full method: five bands, the point ladders for sugar, sodium, saturated fat and energy, and why the cut-offs are Indian rather than European.
- How to read an Indian food labelWhat the back of an Indian pack actually tells you: per 100 g vs per serving, which rows are required, and the four numbers worth reading first.
- Per 100 g vs per serving: the arithmetic on the packA serving size is chosen by the manufacturer, not by you. How to convert a per-serving panel to per 100 g, and why a small serving makes a number look calm.
- How much sugar per 100 g is too much?Total sugars vs added sugars, the 10 g per 100 g threshold, and what the numbers look like on real Indian packs from biscuits to malted drink powders.
- Sodium and salt on Indian labels: how much is too muchThe 2,000 mg daily reference, how to turn sodium into salt, and why a namkeen at 1,950 mg per 100 g is a different question from a spice mix at 12,862 mg.
- "No added sugar", "multigrain", "whole wheat": what the front of the pack meansFront-of-pack claims are regulated loosely and the back of the pack settles them. What each phrase permits, and the enforcement cases that show the gap.
- "Vegetable oil" on an Indian label usually means palmWhy palmolein hides behind a generic word, where it shows up, and what it does to the saturated-fat row that drives a large part of the score.
- INS numbers on Indian packs, explainedINS 211, 330, 471, 551, 627 and 631 and the rest: what each number is, why it is in the pack, and how additives affect a LabelSaaf score.
- FSSAI's front-of-pack labels: where they standThe Indian Nutrition Rating has been draft since 2022 and the Supreme Court pushed FSSAI again in 2026. What is proposed, and how it compares to a 0-100 score.
