The Canadian Health Ministry is teaming up with food companies to launch a new campaign to help Canadians make better choices about what they eat by teaching them how to decode the information found in the nutritional labeling on prepackaged foods.

Nutra-ingredients-USA reports that a study released by the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition showed that most Canadians use these labels as their main source of information about food but they do not understand it as well as they should. 

According to Suite 101, Canadian Health Minister Aglukkaq believes that the health of Canadians will improve as they have a better understanding of the amount of food they eat as well as the quality of ingredients found in that food.

This campaign will use print, television, and online advertising to guide consumers to the program’s website. This website will demonstrate how to interpret the percentage of the daily recommended value of nutrients found on the nutritional labels of prepackaged foods. If the nutrient’s value is greater than fifteen percent, there is a lot of it in the product, making it a good source of that nutrient.

Consumers need to pay attention to the amount of ingredients in a product; in general, foods with fewer ingredients are healthier. They should also avoid adding foods to their favorite recipes that list trans or saturated fats in the ingredients.