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What’s the difference between ‘low fat’, ‘reduced fat’ and ‘fat free’?

FAQ

Fat-free! Reduced fat! Low fat! Here's what those little phrases you see on food packaging actually mean—and which ones deserve your attention

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What’s the difference between ‘low fat’, ‘reduced fat’ and ‘fat free’?

Claim: ‘Low fat’

Translation: These foods must contain less than 3 grams of fat per 100g serve. But beware just because a food is ‘low fat’ doesn’t mean it is low kilojoule. For example having twice as much ice cream for dessert because it is ‘low fat’ will mean that you’ve eaten more kilojoules than you would have if you’d had a small serve of ordinary ice-cream!if a food claims to be 90% fat free, that food is actually 10% fat.

Claim: ‘Reduced fat’

Translation: These foods contain 25% less fat than the regular product but they may still be high in fat. e.g. reduced fat margarine or cheese.

Claim: ‘Fat free’

Translation: These are often displayed on products that you would not expect to find fat in the first place, such as lollies. In these cases the fat free tag is being used as a way of disguising high amounts of other undesirable ingredients, such as sugar.

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What you eat or don’t eat affects how you look, feel and perform. Take our short quiz to find out what foods you could introduce to help you be your best.

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What is healthy eating?

Eating healthy is making sure you enjoy a wide variety of foods from each of the five major food groups daily, in the amounts recommended. The five major food groups as recommended by the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating are:

vegetables and legumes/bean
fruit
lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, legumes/beans
grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties
milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.

Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of key nutrients and eating a variety of foods from the list above helps to promote good health and reduce the risk of disease.

How do I improve my diet?

If you want to improve your diet you have come to the right place. By completing the Healthy Eating Quiz you’ll receive instant personalised feedback and a report on your diet quality to highlight any areas where you can improve your overall eating habits. Your score is based on the frequency and variety of the foods consumed from the five major food groups mentioned above. No Money No Time can help you improve your score by providing tips, goals and suggestions. On top of this we will provide quick, cheap and healthy recipes as well as credible answers to diet hacks, myths and FAQ’s.

Is my diet healthy?

Dietary habits are different between people. Some people choose to follow a particular diet (i.e., Keto diet or vegan diet) while some have to make changes due to certain food restrictions or health conditions. If you want to know if what you usually eat is healthy, then do the Healthy Eating Quiz today to give you the answers in less than 10 minutes.

Why is healthy eating important?

Your HEQ score and personalised feedback report is based on the frequency and variety of healthy core foods you usually eat. This is important because no single food contains all the nutrients we need to stay healthy. Some foods are higher in nutrients than others and people who have a lot of variety in the foods they eat are more likely to be healthy and to stay healthy. In other words, if you can eat a large variety of vegetables as opposed to only 2-3 types of vegetables, the benefits are much greater. This type of diet also helps you to feel better, think better and perform better during your usual daily activities.

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The University of Newcastle Australia