New
New
Year 6

Food labels for health

I can analyse food labels to make healthier choices.

New
New
Year 6

Food labels for health

I can analyse food labels to make healthier choices.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Food labels show us information about pre-packaged food and drinks.
  2. Nutrition information labels can help us to make healthier choices.
  3. Front of pack nutrition labels are shown as traffic lights. When choosing, go for greens and ambers, and fewer reds.
  4. Common allergens, when present in a pre-packed food or drink, must be emphasised clearly in the ingredients list.

Keywords

  • Food label - conveys information about a food on its packaging

  • Nutrition information - information about the nutritional content of a food, e.g. energy, fat, salt

  • Traffic light - in this context, a colour coded nutrition label that shows the amounts of energy and nutrients, e.g. low, medium and high

Common misconception

Traffic lights can be used to compare different types of foods for the healthiest option.

Traffic lights are designed to help people compare similar foods for the healthiest option, so they are comparing foods ‘like for like’.


To help you plan your year 6 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Food labels for health, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Have a range of food packaging (which has been cleaned) for the pupils to explore food labels. Using real food lables helps to contextualise the concept of food labelling into real life and allows for greater discussion and decision making.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What information will you always see on a food label?

Correct answer: name
Correct answer: nutrition information
serving ideas
Correct answer: ingredient list

Q2.
Match the following healthy eating advice:

Correct Answer:We should have at least,five fruit and veg a day.

five fruit and veg a day.

Correct Answer:We should have fish,twice a week.

twice a week.

Correct Answer:We should have,six to eight drinks a day.

six to eight drinks a day.

Correct Answer:We should have starchy foods,with each main meal.

with each main meal.

Q3.
Carbohydrate, fat and protein are known as __________ nutrients.

mini
Correct answer: macro
micro
large

Q4.
Where should the following food be stored to be safe to eat?

Correct Answer:cheese, meat and yogurt,fridge

fridge

Correct Answer:ice cream, and frozen peas and berries,freezer

freezer

Correct Answer:canned tuna, dried pasta and baked beans,cupboard

cupboard

Q5.
Some people have a food to milk, peanuts and fish.

Correct Answer: allergy

Q6.
If we have foods high in fat, salt and sugars, we should have them __________ and __________ .

every day
Correct answer: occasionally
frequently
Correct answer: in small amounts
in large amounts

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Food labels provide information which helps people to know ...

Correct answer: when to eat the food.
Correct answer: how to store the food.
where to eat the food.
Correct answer: the ingredients used.

Q2.
Which ingredient is in the largest amount in this chicken balti?

An image in a quiz
cardamom
tomatoes
red peppers
Correct answer: chicken breast

Q3.
By law, any food must be highlighted on the ingredients list.

Correct Answer: allergens, allergy

Q4.
Nutrition information labels can help us to make healthier choices. For example, we can choose foods that are:

Correct answer: lower in energy (calories)
higher in salt
Correct answer: higher in fibre
higher in fat
Correct answer: lower in sugars

Q5.
Here are the traffic lights for three bean burritos. Which is the healthiest choice?

An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz

Q6.
True or false? Traffic lights on food labels can be used to compare different types of foods for the healthiest option.

true
Correct answer: false