What’s In Your Lunchbox?

What do traffic lights, red tractors and snowflakes all have in common?
They are all used on food labelling to help consumers make informed choices, however, the majority of people are uncertain as to what the information on labels actually means*.
The Food Standards Agency report that consumers feel very strongly that ‘clear, honest and transparent food labelling is the foundation of consumer choice’ yet don’t know what they should and should not be choosing in the aisles.
To help confused parents make informed decisions about their grocery shopping, Baco Rainbow, the food preparation and storage range designed especially for children, has produced a series of downloadable factsheets which provide clear information on food labelling, recipes and tips on hassle-free healthy eating.
The Baco Rainbow range includes colourful sandwich bags with stickers and re-sealable character snack bags, perfect for filling lunchboxes with bright and appealing healthy snacks. With the increase in convenience food, www.BacoRainbowIsland.com provides tips on homemade alternatives to lunchbox and picnic foods which are not only easy and inexpensive to make but also ensure you can guarantee exactly what goes into your children’s lunchbox.
Vanessa Wright, dietitian and author of Vitamins and Minerals commented: “There are many ways of looking at a food label and deciding whether it is ‘healthy’. Retailers use a number of symbols, codes and ratings to provide nutritional advice but understanding exactly what each retailer means can be confusing.
“The best advice is to go for a greater proportion of unprocessed foods in your diet as they are very unlikely to have had any sugar, fat or salt added to them. Although many parents think making food from scratch is a daunting task, it only takes a little planning and effort to come up with quick and easy meals and snacks for the family.”
Jenny Bowden, Brand Manager of the Baco Rainbow Range, said: “With so many messages in the media about what we should and shouldn’t be eating, we wanted to provide parents with a one-stop shop for accessing nutritional information and recipes.” The easy to understand factsheets available on www.BacoRainbowIsland.com provide helpful advice as well as a cut out and keep guide to understanding labels, ideal for keeping in wallets or purses to use when shopping.
“The website also has a variety of stories, puzzles and games for children to demonstrate the importance of a healthy diet through play, which we hope will get kids involved in choosing food, making them more inclined to eat a larger variety of foods.”
Know your limits!
• According to current Government guidelines, how many calories should an average man have per day? 2500
• According to current Government guidelines, how many calories should an average woman have per day? 2000
• What is the recommended daily intake of salt? 6g
• What is the recommended daily intake of sugar? 60g for average adult
• How much does one level teaspoon of sugar weigh? 4g
• What percentage of your total calorie intake should be added sugars? 10%
* Research carried out by the Food Standards Agency, March 2007
• Baco was founded in 1962 with a product range which includes foil, cling film, freezer bags, containers, baking paper and refuse sacks. The company headquarters are in Amersham, UK.
• Baco Consumer Products Limited is part of the Reynolds Packaging Group which includes the Reynolds brand in the USA.
• Reynolds Food Packaging offers a full line of stock and custom products for the foodservice, supermarket, processor and agricultural markets.  Products include plastic containers and lids, plastic clamshell containers, roll foil and film, aluminium and plastic platters, aluminium containers and lids, foil wraps, foil and plastic bags and paper baking cups and liners.  All products are available in a wide range of sizes and material types for food preparation, serving, merchandising and storing.
• Reynolds Packaging employs 10,000 employees in 22 countries.
• Awards:
• 2001 – Good Housekeeping Institute, award for Innovation for BacoFoil Non-Stick foil.