Daily Intake Guide: Healthy eating, made easy. Front-of-pack labelling for food and drink in Australia.

Daily Intake Guide

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We measure energy in kilojoules, the same as we measure distance in kilometres and weight in kilograms.

Our bodies use energy for everything we do - growth, development, cell repair, and for movement activities like walking, running, swimming, working and even sleeping.

The pre-metric name for kilojoules was calories, but for over 30 years Australia has used the metric terminology, kilojoules, in schools and in the Food Standards Code.

1 kilojoule = 0.24 kilocalories/calories
1 kilocalorie = 4.18 kilojoules

Abbreviations:
kJ = kilojoules
kcal = kilocalorie (or calorie)

Research

A great deal of scientific research has been conducted in a number of countries around the world on nutrition knowledge and front-of-pack labelling, including:

Appetite - Nutrition knowledge, and use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels among consumers in the UK
Journal of Public Health - Use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels in six European countries
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society -

> View detailed Energy Distribution Patterns poster from the Nutrition Society Conference, December 2010

> Energy distribution patterns among Australian children and adults and its relationship with age, gender and BMI among children and adults [abstract ]
Public Health Nutrition - Consumer preferences for front-of-pack calories labelling
European Food Information Council - Simple energy-based front-of-pack labelling preferred by consumers

The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) is a non-profit organisation which provides science-based information on food safety & quality and health & nutrition to the media, health and nutrition professionals and educators, in a way that promotes consumer understanding.