Activity

Food Standards

Key Learning

Students will critically analyse food labels to determine whether the labelling is clear for consumers. This task will develop students towards becoming active and informed citizens.

The Australian Curriculum > English / Literacy / Interpreting, analysing, evaluating
Content description / General capabilities
Literacy
Intercultural understanding
Personal and social capability
Ethical behaviour
Information and communication technology capability
Critical and creative thinking
Cross-curriculum priorities
Sustainability
·  Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning to expand content knowledge, integrating and linking ideas and analysing and evaluating texts. Code ACELY1692
·  Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources. Code ACELY1703
·  Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts. Code ACELY1713

Focus Questions

1.  What did the BtN story mainly explain?

2.  In a recent news story what unexpected ingredient was found in the meatballs served at IKEA?

3.  Where did they track the meat back to?

a.  Rome

b.  Romania

c.  Russia

4.  What was the horsemeat relabelled as?

5.  Australia has strict rules about what goes into food. True or false?

6.  What types of bacteria do the labs test for?

7.  What type of information would you find on food labels? List three.

8.  Do you read food labels to decide what to eat?

9.  Do you think there should be more thorough testing on the food we buy and eat? Explain your answer.

10.  Name three facts you learnt in the Food Standards story.

Activities

Collect a range of food labels from products found in your recycling bin at school or at home to use throughout the following investigations.

K-W-L-H organiser

After watching the BtN Food Standards story, working in pairs, ask students to discuss and record what they already know about food labelling. What questions were raised in the discussion (what are the gaps in their knowledge)? The following K-W-L-H organiser provides students with a framework to explore their prior knowledge on this topic and consider what they would like to know and learn.

What do I know? / What do I want to know? / What have I learnt? / How will I find out?

Use the questions recorded in the KWHL chart to guide students' research. They may choose to research questions of interest or questions set for small groups to address.

Students can investigate their own questions or some of the following:

·  Did you know that the ingredient list on a food label must identify the ingredients making up the product in order of quantity, from the largest to the smallest amount? Check the ingredients lists on your favourite breakfast cereals or muesli bars. What are the main ingredients?

·  What does GM stand for?

·  What is meant by the term free range?

·  What does it mean when products are labelled ‘Made in Australia’?

·  Some people think labelling laws should cover environmental and ethical information. What does that mean?

·  Do you think food labelling is clear for consumers? Could it be improved? How? Make a list of recommendations.

·  What is the difference between the ‘use by’ date and the ‘best before’ date?

Encourage students to share their research with the class. Interesting ways to present the information include a Prezi presentation http://prezi.com/index/ or Glogster http://www.glogster.com/

Research – food labelling requirements

Ask your students if they know what sort of information should appear on food labels. The Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) has developed information on a range of labelling topics, as listed below.

·  Nutrition information panels

·  Ingredient lists and percentage labelling

·  Use by and best before dates

·  Food allergies

·  Advisory statements

·  Country of origin labelling

·  Genetically modified (GM) foods

·  Food additives

·  Truth in labelling(including legibility requirements)

·  Health claims(nutrition and health related claims)

How many food labelling topics were your students able to list? Ask students to choose one of the topics listed and conduct further research. Visit the FSANZ website for further information on these topics http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/labellingoffood/

Collect and analyse information

Collect nutrition information tables from three different breakfast cereal labels. Also record their price. Analyse the nutritional value of one serve of each of these cereal products. Suggest which of the three cereal products is of better value for money nutritionally. Provide reasons for your decision.

Nutritional information (compare average per 100 grams)

A / B / C
Energy (kJ)
Protein (g)
Fat – Total (g)
Carbohydrate – Total (g)
Dietary Fibre (g)
Sodium (mg)
Cost (per 100 grams)

Further investigation: look at the three food labels and answer the questions in the table below.

A / B / C
Is the food produced in Australia?
Which country did the food come from?
What is the main ingredient by weight? The main ingredient is at the top of the list.
What ingredient is present in the smallest amount? This ingredient is at the end of the list.
By when should you use this product? After this date, is the food likely to be a risk to your health?
Does the food make a health or nutrition claim? If so, what is it? Can you find relevant information supporting the claim on the nutrition label?

Further Investigation

Understanding labels: Take the Jamie Oliver label challenge http://www.jamieoliver.com/bacon/labels

8 Related Research Links

Food Standards Australia New Zealand – Food labelling

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/labellingoffood/

Better Health Channel – Food Labels

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/food_labels_explained?open

Child & Youth Health – Food labels: what do they mean?

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=284&id=2494

Behind the News – Food Labelling

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2905948.htm

Behind the News – Australian Made?

http://abc.net.au/btn/story/s2667464.htm

Behind the News – Aussie Pig?

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3062516.htm

©ABC 2013