How to Read Food Labels: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 10 questionsGeneral Trainingeasy
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About this passage
The passage opens: “Walk down the aisle of any supermarket and you will find that almost every packaged product carries a label full of numbers and lists. These labels can look confusing at first, but learning to read them is one of the most useful shopping skills you can develop.”
- Passage length: about 471 words
- Questions: 10
- Question types: True / False / Not Given, Multiple Choice
“How to Read Food Labels” is an original IELTS-style practice passage written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
How to Read Food Labels answers with explanations
Questions 1–6: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information.
- 1
The per hundred gram figures are the most useful for comparing similar products.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “The per hundred gram column is the most useful for comparing two similar products, because it puts them on an equal footing regardless of packet size.”
- 2
A low calorie figure always means a food is healthy.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “It is easy to assume that a low calorie figure automatically means a food is healthy, but this is not always the case.”
- 3
Ingredients are listed in order of weight, from most to least.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “By law, ingredients are written in order of weight, from the most to the least.”
- 4
Colour-coded labels are required by law in every country.
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Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The statement claims that colour-coded labels are legally required in every country, but the passage never confirms or denies this, only mentioning that some labels use a colour-coded system to indicate nutrient levels.
Closest related text · Paragraph 5 “Some labels use a colour-coded system, with red, amber and green marks, to show at a glance whether a food is high, medium or low in these nutrients.”
- 5
A best-before date is mainly about safety rather than quality.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 6 “A best-before date, by contrast, is about quality rather than safety; a food may be past its best but still be perfectly safe to eat.”
- 6
Some foods that do not taste sweet can still contain a lot of sugar.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 5 “Foods that do not taste sweet, such as bread, sauces and ready meals, can still contain a surprising amount of sugar”
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. Only the price of the product
- B. The energy, fat, sugar, salt and other nutrients
- C. The order of the ingredients by weight
- D. The use-by and best-before dates
- 7
What does the nutrition panel list?
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Answer: B — The energy, fat, sugar, salt and other nutrients
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — The energy, fat, sugar, salt and other nutrients.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “This is the small table that lists how much energy the food provides, along with amounts of fat, sugar, salt and other nutrients.”
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. Grams or litres
- B. Servings or portions
- C. Percentages
- D. Calories or kilojoules
- 8
In what units is energy in food measured?
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Answer: D — Calories or kilojoules
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports D — Calories or kilojoules.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “Energy is measured in units called calories, or sometimes in kilojoules.”
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. The product contains a large amount of sugar.
- B. The product is free of sugar.
- C. The sugar has been added last.
- D. The product is low in salt.
- 9
What does it mean if sugar appears near the top of the ingredients list?
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Answer: A — The product contains a large amount of sugar.
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports A — The product contains a large amount of sugar..
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “…if sugar appears near the top of the list, the product contains a large amount of it, even if the front of the packet suggests otherwise.”
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. Because the food will taste better after it
- B. Because it shows the food's quality only
- C. Because eating the food after it could make you ill
- D. Because it indicates the packet size
- 10
Why should a use-by date be taken seriously?
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Answer: C — Because eating the food after it could make you ill
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports C — Because eating the food after it could make you ill.
Evidence · Paragraph 6 “A use-by date is about safety and should be taken seriously, because eating a food after this date could make you ill.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 10 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Reading (General Training) conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single passage is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 10 / 10 | 9.0 |
| 9 / 10 | 7.5 |
| 8 / 10 | 6.5 |
| 7 / 10 | 5.5 |
| 6 / 10 | 5.0 |
| 5 / 10 | 4.5 |
| 4 / 10 | 4.0 |
| 3 / 10 | 3.5 |
| 2 / 10 | 2.5 |
| 1 / 10 | 2.0 |
| 0 / 10 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
True / False / Not Given
- Read the statement first and underline the key idea, especially any qualifiers like "all", "only", "never", "always", "more than" or dates and numbers.
- Because the questions follow the order of the passage, scan for the paragraph that deals with the same topic rather than re-reading everything.
Common trap: Confusing "False" with "Not Given": choose False only when the passage actively contradicts the statement; if the passage is silent, it is Not Given.
Full True / False / Not Given strategyMultiple Choice
- Read the question stem carefully before the options so you know exactly what is being asked.
- Because multiple-choice questions follow passage order, locate the relevant section and read it in full — the answer usually depends on more than one sentence.
Common trap: Distractors that use exact words from the passage but distort the meaning.
Full Multiple Choice strategyPractise “How to Read Food Labels” under exam conditions
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