Shopping
Food in an unfamiliar supermarket: what to look for on the label
In an unfamiliar supermarket, a package can look entirely unreadable, but usually only the words are.
Food labels
What a package tells you in ten seconds, and where it misleads.
Ingredients and additives
Gelatin, pork, and alcohol on labels: how to check in another language
Pork is rarely called pork in an ingredients list.
Shopping
How to translate a product’s ingredients list into Russian
An ingredients list in a foreign language in a Russian shop means either a violation, a detached sticker, or a purchase made outside Russia.
Shopping
Organic products: what it means by law
Of all the labels on packaging, "organic" is a rare case where the word is backed by a legal document.
Shopping
Product pages in online stores: what is missing
In a physical store, you can turn the packaging over in your hands.
Allergies
Sulfites: where the E220–E228 allergen hides
Sulfites are the only item on the list of mandatory allergens that are not always declared, but only starting from a certain amount.
Calorie counting
Holiday table: where do the calories in Olivier and herring under a fur coat come from
Olivier salad does not have one correct number: one cook's version may have twice as many calories as another's, despite using the same ingredients.
Shopping
Diabetic products: what changes in them besides the price
The label "for diabetic nutrition" describes one property of a product — it contains fewer simple sugars than its standard counterpart.
Calorie counting
kcal, cal, and kJ: how to convert and why there are two numbers on the package
One kilocalorie equals 4.
Ingredients and additives
Stabilizers and thickeners: gums, starches, and pectin
Xanthan gum, guar gum, carrageenan, pectin, modified starch — this is a set of words that looks alarming on an ingredient label but means something quite boring: the product needs to have the right consistency and not separate before its expiration date.
Ingredients and additives
Sorbate and benzoate: the two most common preservatives
Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate account for the majority of industrial preservation: the former works against mold and yeast, while the latter works in acidic environments against a wide range of microorganisms.
Ingredients and additives
Acidity regulators: why citric acid and baking soda are in food
Acidity regulators are the most numerous and the most boring group of additives.
Ingredients and additives
Nitrites in sausage: why they are there and what is known about them
Sodium nitrite is an additive with the worst reputation and one of the most clear-cut functions.
Ingredients and additives
Food dyes: which ones are restricted and why
The color of food carries information: it is used to judge ripeness, freshness, and taste even before the first bite.
Ingredients and additives
Sudan dyes: industrial paint found in spices
Sudan I, II, III, and IV are synthetic dyes for industrial use: they are used to color waxes, oils, solvents, and polishes.
Ingredients and additives
Preservatives: why they are needed and what questions arise about them
The word "preservative" on an ingredient label is often seen as a negative, and products "without preservatives" sell better.
Ingredients and additives
How manufacturers hide additives in the ingredient list
A short ingredient list sells better than a long one, and manufacturers know it.
Shopping
Food standards in different countries: why the same product varies
The same brand in two countries may have a different composition, and this is not always about cost-cutting.
Ingredients and additives
Emulsifiers: what they do in food and what is known about them
Water and fat do not mix—this is a basic fact, and it is the source of half the problems in food technology.
Shopping
Private label products: what they are and when to buy them
A store-brand product costs 20–40% less than a name-brand equivalent sitting right next to it on the shelf.
Ingredients and additives
How E numbers work: what the first digit tells you
The three-digit number after the letter E is not random: it carries information about why the substance was added.
Allergies
"May contain traces": what is behind this label
The label "may contain traces of nuts" is found on half the shelves, including products where nuts have no business being.
Shopping
Shrinkflation: the package got smaller, but the price stayed the same
A liter of milk has turned into 900 milliliters, a dozen eggs into nine, and a chocolate bar has shrunk from 100 grams to 85.
Allergies
Cross-reactivity: why birch pollen makes your mouth itch when you eat an apple
A person with a birch pollen allergy bites into an apple and feels itching and tingling in their mouth.
Shopping
Chocolate and confectionery bars: what changes when cocoa butter is replaced
Cocoa butter is the most expensive part of chocolate, and an entire category of products that look indistinguishable from it has been built around its replacement.
Ingredients and additives
One additive, different rules: why lists do not match
The argument that "this additive is banned in Europe" sounds convincing and almost always requires clarification.
Allergies
Allergens that must be on the label
Manufacturers are required to disclose certain allergens at all times—even when their proportion is negligible and even when they entered the product as part of another ingredient.
Shopping
Condensed milk and "milk-containing product": where is the line drawn
Condensed milk is a product made of two ingredients: milk and sugar.
Ingredients and additives
Additives in baby food: what is prohibited and why the rules are stricter
There is a separate, significantly narrower list of permitted additives for baby food.
Shopping
Butter and spread: how to distinguish them and why they are different products
Butter and spread sit side by side, look the same, and cost different amounts.
Allergies
Egg allergy: where egg white is found besides fried eggs
Eggs are one of the most common food allergies in children, and for most, it resolves with age.
Shopping
How the composition of sausage has changed and what to look for in it now
Sausage is the most convenient product for analyzing how recipes change: the changes are documented by percentages right on the packaging.
Ingredients and additives
"Clean label": how a short ingredient list is achieved without changing the product
There is a confirmed trend: consumers prefer products with short and understandable ingredient lists.
Allergies
Fish, crustaceans, and mollusks: three separate lines in the allergen list
In the list of mandatory allergens, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks are listed as three separate items, and this is not just bureaucracy: their proteins are different, and a reaction to shrimp does not mean a reaction to cod.
Shopping
GOST and TU: what is actually behind these letters
GOST is often read as a mark of quality, while TU is seen as permission to do whatever one wants.
Allergies
Peanuts and tree nuts: why they are separated and where they hide
In the list of mandatory allergens, peanuts and tree nuts are listed as two separate items, and this is not just a formality: peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and an allergy to them does not mean an allergy to hazelnuts or almonds.
Allergies
Cow's milk protein allergy: where it hides in ingredients
The most common mistake with this allergy is looking for the word "milk" in the ingredients list.
Shopping
What to look for in an ingredient list in ten seconds
Reading an entire ingredient list at the shelf is impossible: the print is small, and there is no time.
Ingredients and additives
Flavorings: how 'natural' differs from 'nature-identical'
The common division into natural, nature-identical, and artificial flavorings has become ingrained in food discussions, even though it is no longer used in its original form in current regulations.
Shopping
Price per kilogram: the only comparable figure on a price tag
There are two numbers on a price tag.
Ingredients and additives
Antioxidants: what they do to fat and why it spoils without them
There are two different ways for food to spoil.
Technology
Where do apps get calorie and macronutrient data and why do the numbers differ
The same cottage cheese gets different calorie counts in two apps, and people usually assume one of them is wrong.
Technology
Chestny Znak and the square code on the packaging: what it shows
Next to the familiar stripes on packaging, there is increasingly a small square made of dots.
Technology
Barcode on packaging: what is encrypted in it and what is not
There is a persistent belief about barcodes: that you can supposedly tell the country where a product was made from the first digits, and verify its authenticity from the rest.
Calorie counting
Calories and macros on the label: why the numbers don't match reality
The same buckwheat in three different apps gives three different calorie counts, and the package shows a fourth.
Nutrition
Hidden sugar: under what names it appears in ingredients
The word "sugar" appears in ingredients less often than sugar itself does in a product: it has a dozen legal names, and the manufacturer has every right to use any of them.
Nutrition
"Sugar-free," "fitness," "eco": what these labels actually mean
The front of a package speaks in short words: "light," "fitness," "sugar-free," "eco.
Nutrition
E-numbers in ingredients: how the code is structured and what it means
An ingredient list contains E330, and it is impossible to tell from this code whether it is citric acid or something better to avoid.
Nutrition
How to read the ingredients list on a label: the rules governing its writing
A label looks like a list of words from which everyone reads something different: one person considers a long list of ingredients a red flag, another looks for E numbers.
Nutrition
Myths about food additives and GMOs
Two things on packaging cause the most fear: codes with the letter E and the acronym "GMO.
From reading to doing. All of it starts in one place — knowing what is on the plate. Photograph it and the calories and macros appear on their own.
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This article is for general information. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a prescription for treatment or a diet, and it does not replace a consultation with your doctor. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or follow a diet prescribed to you, decisions about food belong with your doctor.
Figures from regulations, guidelines and studies are given as they stood when this article was prepared and may since have changed; check them against the primary sources. This article is not advertising, an offer, or individual advice, and neither the author nor the site owner is responsible for decisions taken on the basis of it.