What can we learn from food packaging?

We buy and drink in many different kinds of packaging, such as cartons, tins, bottlers or jars. Food packaging can be paper, cardboard, plastic aluminium or glass.

Food packaging contains important information about the food we buy. We can see a list of the ingredients and additives that go into the food. We can also see the quantity of each ingredient and, for example, how many calories or how much protein the food contains. We can see the weight of the food (in grams and kilos) and, in the case of liquids or drinks, how much liquid (in litres and millilitres) the packaging contains.

We can also see the “sell-by” date and “use-by” date. The “sell-by” date is the latest date the manufacturers recommend we should buy the food. We shouldn’t eat food after its “use-by” date, as the food may be bad and harmful to our health.

Food packaging contains symbols to tell us if we can recycle the food packaging. There is also often advertising on food packaging. Advertising sometimes includes colourful photos of happy people eating the food. This can persuade us to buy food or drink, even when it isn’t very good for us.

1. What materials can food packaging be?

2. What is the “sell-by” date?

3. What does advertising do? 


Let's talk!

1. What's the food packaging? How much does it contain?

e.g. I think this is a plastic bottle of ketchup and it contains 250 millilitres.

                 
                 
 2. What do you buy for home?