Here’s a fun experiment. Pick up any packaged food in your kitchen right now — a biscuit packet, a “health drink” jar, a bag of namkeen — and flip it over to the nutrition label. Read it carefully.
Done? Great. Now answer this: do you know what you just read? Do you know if those numbers are good, bad, or just confusing enough to make you shrug and eat the thing anyway?
If you answered “I have no idea” — congratulations, you’re in the honest majority. Indian nutrition labels are technically mandatory (thanks, FSSAI), but they’re designed with all the clarity of a terms-and-conditions page. Small font. Dense numbers. Strategic ambiguity. And very occasionally, numbers that don’t quite add up.
Let’s fix that. Here’s how to actually read a nutrition label — and what to look out for.
Step 1: Find the Serving Size (This Is Where the Games Begin)
The single most important number on any nutrition label isn’t the calorie count or the protein content. It’s the serving size — the tiny line at the top that says “per serving (Xg)” or “per 100g.”
Why does this matter? Because all the other numbers — calories, sugar, fat, protein — are calculated per that serving size. And serving sizes are where brands get creative.
A pack of biscuits might list “per serving: 3 biscuits (30g)” knowing that literally nobody eats exactly 3 biscuits. You eat 6, maybe 8, maybe the whole packet during a conference call. But the label says 120 kcal and 4g sugar per serving, which sounds reasonable — until you realise you ate four servings.
A “protein bar” might list impressive protein numbers per 100g, then set the serving size at 30g. Suddenly your “20g protein bar” delivers 6g per actual serving. Mathemagic.
What to do: Always check if the numbers are per serving or per 100g. Per 100g is the most honest comparison across products, because serving sizes vary wildly. FSSAI mandates that labels show values per 100g/100ml AND per serving, but the per-serving number is what’s displayed most prominently — and that’s the one brands optimise for visual appeal.
Step 2: The Sugar Hide-and-Seek
Sugar is the ingredient that food companies most want to make invisible. Not because sugar is evil, but because consumers are increasingly watching their sugar intake, and high sugar numbers look bad on a label.
Here’s how sugar hides:
Multiple names. Sugar can appear in an ingredient list as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltodextrin, dextrose, corn syrup solids, invert sugar, or (in Indian products) “added sugar” versus “total sugars.” FSSAI requires “Total Sugars” on the nutrition panel, but the ingredient list might break sugar into three different names so none of them appears first.
“No added sugar” vs “no sugar.” A product labelled “no added sugar” might still contain 15g of sugars per serving from fruit concentrates, honey, or naturally occurring sugars. “No added sugar” means they didn’t pour extra sugar in. It doesn’t mean there’s no sugar.
The %RDA trick. FSSAI’s reference daily intake for added sugar is 50g. So a product with 12g of sugar per serving can truthfully say “24% of daily value” — which sounds moderate. But the WHO recommends a maximum of 25g of added sugar per day, by which standard that same 12g is 48% of your reasonable daily limit. Same product, very different framing.
What to look for: Check the “Total Sugars” line in the nutrition panel. Compare it to the protein content. If a “health drink” has more sugar per serving than protein, it’s a sweet drink with protein, not a protein drink. That’s not a crime — just know what you’re buying.
For reference: our Chocolate Jaggery sachet has ~3.5g total sugars and 14g protein per serving. Our Mint Masala has essentially zero sugars and 14g protein. We publish these numbers because we’d rather you compare than trust.
Step 3: Protein — The Number Everyone Claims
Protein is the current “hero nutrient” in Indian marketing. Every product from biscuits to atta to chocolate now screams “HIGH PROTEIN” on the front of the pack. But the back of the pack tells a different story.
Watch for: The actual grams of protein per serving, not per 100g. A “protein biscuit” with 8g protein per 100g sounds decent until you realise a serving is 3 biscuits (25g) = 2g of protein. That’s the same as a glass of water with a distant memory of milk.
Compare to real benchmarks: ICMR recommends 54g-65g of protein per day for an average working adult. A truly meaningful protein addition should give you at least 10–15g per serving — enough to make a dent in your daily target. Anything under 5g per serving is protein-flavoured marketing, not a protein source.
Ask for proof: This is controversial, but we believe in it. Any brand claiming specific protein content should be able to show you third-party lab test results. Not internal testing. Not “as per recipe calculation.” Actual, independent, accredited-lab-tested results.
At Gram by Gram™, our protein claims are verified by Eurofins (third-party, NABL-accredited). The full lab reports are on our website — not behind a “contact us” form, not available “on request.” Just there, for anyone to read. Because if you can’t show your work, maybe your numbers aren’t worth showing.
Step 4: Fat — Not All Fat Is Created Equal
Indian consumers tend to have a binary relationship with fat: fat = bad. But nutrition is more nuanced than that.
Total fat tells you how much fat is in the product, but the type of fat matters more than the amount:
Saturated fat (SAFA) is what you want to moderate. High intake of saturated fat is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. FSSAI’s daily reference is 22g.
Trans fat (TFA) is what you want to avoid entirely. FSSAI has mandated that packaged food must have less than 0.2g trans fat per 100g (tightened from 2g in earlier regulations). Check this number. If it’s above zero, ask why.
Unsaturated fats (mono and poly) are generally beneficial — they’re the fats in nuts, seeds, and olive oil. Labels don’t always break these out, but if total fat is moderate and saturated fat is low, the remainder is likely unsaturated.
What to do: Look at saturated fat and trans fat specifically. Don’t panic about total fat unless it’s unusually high for the product category.
Step 5: The Ingredient List (Read It Like a Detective)
FSSAI requires ingredients to be listed in descending order by weight. The first ingredient is what there’s most of. The last ingredient is what there’s least of.
This is incredibly revealing:
If a “multigrain” bread lists “refined wheat flour (maida)” as ingredient #1, it’s mostly maida with a cameo from other grains. If a “protein drink” lists sugar before protein, it’s a sugar drink with protein guest-starring.
Other things to watch:
Long lists. If the ingredient list reads like a chemistry textbook, the product is heavily processed. Not necessarily bad — but worth knowing.
Words you can’t pronounce. Not a perfect rule (ascorbic acid is just vitamin C), but if an ingredient list has more lab chemicals than kitchen ingredients, check it thoroughly what it means.
“Natural flavours.” This phrase is technically regulated but practically means anything extracted from a natural source and then processed. It’s not harmful, but it’s not exactly “natural” the way your naani would define it.
At Gram by Gram™, our ingredient lists read like a kitchen shelf: sattu (roasted wheat, black chana, barley), pea protein isolate, cocoa powder, jaggery, monk fruit extract, and spices. That’s it. No ingredients that require a disclaimer.
Step 6: %RDA — The Most Misunderstood Number
The % Daily Value (or %RDA) column tells you what percentage of the recommended daily intake one serving provides. FSSAI mandates this for energy, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, sodium, protein, and fiber (where claims are made).
The reference values: Energy 2,000 kcal, Protein 54g (ICMR 2020), Total Fat 67g, Saturated Fat 22g, Trans Fat 2g, Added Sugar 50g, Sodium 2,000mg.
The trap: %RDA makes some things look small and others look big, depending on the reference. 10g of sugar is “20% daily value” (sounds okay). But 10g of protein is “19% daily value” (sounds… the same). The numbers are similar, but 10g of sugar is arguably too much for a snack, while 10g of protein is genuinely useful. %RDA flattens all nutrients into the same scale, which can be misleading.
What to do: Use %RDA as a directional guide, not a final verdict. For sugar and sodium, lower is generally better. For protein and fiber, higher is generally better. And always check the actual grams — percentages can obscure what matters.
The Transparency Test
Here’s a simple framework we use at Gram by Gram™, and we think every consumer should apply it:
Can you find the lab reports? Not marketing claims. Not “clinically proven” (proven by whom?). Actual third-party test results from an accredited lab, with report numbers you can verify.
Are the numbers per-serving or per-100g? And is the serving size realistic — something a human would actually consume — or a conveniently tiny portion designed to make the numbers look better?
Does the ingredient list make sense? Could you, in theory, assemble these ingredients in your own kitchen? If the answer is yes, you’re probably looking at a clean-label product.
We publish our Eurofins lab reports and raw material test reports from Choksi Laboratories publicly — not because we’re required to, but because we think transparency is a competitive advantage. If your numbers are good, showing them isn’t scary. It’s a flex.
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14g protein per sachet. Lab-tested. Label-honest. Launching October 2026.
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Questions about our labels (or anyone else’s)? grambygramfoods@gmail.com