If you want to eat a healthy diet, one of the key things we should be doing is trying to cut down on fat (especially saturated fat), salt and added sugars. There are different types of fat in food – some are good and bad. Saturated fat is a ‘bad’ fat and we should try and reduce our intake wherever possible. To achieve a healthy diet, it is also important that we reduce our daily salt intake. Many food labels show the sodium value but sodium is not the same as salt. Salt is sodium chloride, so sodium is only one part of a molecule of salt. To convert sodium to salt we multiple the sodium value by 2.5.

Croi have recently developed a card entitled ‘Guide to Healthy Shopping’. The card uses the traffic light colours to help us make better food choices. The ‘Guide to Healthy Shopping’ card can help you get the balance right by helping you to choose between products and keep a check on the amount of foods high in fat, sugars and salt that you are eating. Making the healthy choice isn't always easy – sometimes there seems to be so much to remember. But with the ‘Guide to Healthy Shopping’ card you can make the healthiest possible food choice!

The three traffic light colours:

• A red light indicates the food is high in something we should be trying to cut down on. It’s fine to have these occasionally, or as a treat, but try to limit.
• An amber light means the food isn’t high or low in the nutrient, meaning that it is an acceptable food item to eat quite regularly. There may be an even healthier option in the shop, so keep looking!
• A green light indicates that the food is low in that nutrient. The more green lights, the healthier the choice and the more likely the food is to be a good option for everyday eating.

If you want to make the healthy choice when you are shopping, go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds. Remember, many foods will have a mixture of red, amber and green – try to go for the product with more greens and ambers and less reds for a healthy diet!