The One Habit That Can Transform Your Shopping Cart

AuthorAuthor: Chantelle van der Merwe 

Registered Dietitian (SA) . PG Dip Diabetes Management (UK). All about Real nutrition for Real, every-day life ​

There is Golden Rule when it comes to healthy shopping: If a food comes in a packet, box, tub, bottle, sachet, or wrapper, read the nutrition label.This is one of the simplest and most valuable nutrition habits you can develop.

Click here for the SHOCK OF YOUR LIFE! A recent, May 2026, muffin comparison illustrates this perfectly. Most people would assume the bran muffin was the healthiest choice. Yet it contained the highest sugar content and the lowest fibre content of all the muffins compared.

Food manufacturers are incredibly good at making products look healthy. Words such as bran, wholegrain, natural, multigrain, low fat, high fibre, or made with real fruit can create what nutrition professionals call a health halo—the perception that a food is healthy before you've looked at what's actually inside it.

Add attractive packaging, pictures of grains, fruit, nuts, or healthy-looking ingredients, and it's easy to assume you're making a good choice.

But here's the reality: The front of the package is marketing. The back of the package is information.
That's why the golden rule is simple: If it comes in a packet, box, sachet, or wrapper, turn it around and read the label. 

Many people avoid label reading because it feels complicated. There are calories, fats, sugars, sodium, fibre, protein, serving sizes, ingredients lists—and suddenly choosing a snack feels like writing an exam.

The good news is that you don't need to analyse everything at once. Start with just two things:

Step 1: Check the Sugar ContentAim for foods that contain less than 15 g sugar per 100 g most of the time.
Step 2: Check the Fibre ContentAim for foods that provide 5 g or more fibre per serving whenever possible.

These two numbers alone can tell you a lot about whether a food is likely to satisfy you and support your health goals.
Once you're comfortable with those, you can gradually start looking at:

• Protein per serving
• Saturated fat per 100g
• Sodium per 100g
• Calories per serving

In general, foods that keep you fuller for longer tend to be:

• Higher in protein
• Higher in fibre
• Lower in sugar

Click here for the SHOCK OF YOUR LIFE! A recent Woolworths (May 2026) muffin comparison illustrates this perfectly. Most people would assume the bran muffin was the healthiest choice. Yet it contained the highest sugar content and the lowest fibre content of all the muffins compared.

That's why nutrition is about what's in the food—not what the packaging suggests.

Remember: Don't buy the marketing. Buy the nutrition.