Guideline Daily Amounts - what they mean for you.
The key to a healthy diet is balance. All foods can be enjoyed, it is just a matter of eating a little more of some and a little less of others in order to ensure we get the right balance of nutrients to keep us looking good and feeling great.
So what is a balanced diet?
A balanced diet is made up of a mix of foods from the five main food groups.
It should be based on loads of fruits and vegetables (at least 5 portions a day) with plenty of bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. Add a careful selection of meat, pulses and dairy products with a sprinkling of fatty and sugary foods and you should easily be within your guideline daily amounts for calories, fat, saturates, sugars and salt.
Is lasagne a food group?
It can be difficult to understand where manufactured foods fit - a lasagne will have pasta, vegetables, meat, cheese and some oil in the recipe so it fits into all the food groups.
This is where Tesco can help.
GDA Signposts
Tesco is helping you make healthier choices by including clear nutritional labelling on the front of products.
We have a long history of leading the way in labelling - we started putting labels on the back of packs in 1985 and in 2005 we were the first retailer in the UK to put a GDA signpost on the front of packs.
The top figure in the boxes above shows the amounts of calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt in one serving. The figure underneath shows the percentages of the guideline daily amounts (GDAs) from one serving.
What are Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs)?
Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) are a guide to the amounts of calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt you should try not to exceed every day to have a healthy balanced diet.
What's a typical day's GDAs?
Remember that GDAs are only guidelines, not targets. They're not the same for everyone. For example, they're higher for active men and lower for inactive women and children.
How to balance your diet?
You don't have to add up all the percentage GDA's - but you can use them to make better choices.
All the information is per portion so is based on what you will actually eat -use the percentage GDA's to compare products and pick the lowest in one or more of the nutrients - if in doubt compare Calories.
If you are not sure what to compare with then choose a percentage level to keep below for products such as 20% for snacks - it doesn't mean you shouldn't go above that ever but you should eat the higher products less often.
Portions
We try and put recommended portion sizes on every product - based on what should be enough for a meal or a snack - if you don't think it's enough then add vegetables, salad or fruits to fill up on and get a better balance in your diet.
Every food has its place in a balanced diet - some just need to be eaten in smaller amounts or less frequently than others. By showing the percentage of GDAs on our packs these signposts help you understand which ones they are, so you will be able to pick and mix your groceries, helping your family eat more of the healthier stuff, while keeping tabs on those naughty-but-nice treats.
Spot our new healthy logos at the top of packs
Look out for the new Healthy Eating ‘wave' design on the front of Tesco packaging. Designed to make it easier for you to make healthier choices, a Healthy Eating wave immediately tells you a product is better for you and your family as it meets strict nutritional guidelines for fat, saturates, salt and sugar.
New symbols on pack
If a product doesn't meet all of the Healthy Eating criteria but does have one key benefit a new circular green symbol is used. These can be founds on lots of Tesco food and will say things like low salt, low fat or 1 of 5-a-day
Download the eatwell plate as a pdf: 
eatwellplate0210