How to read a kids health drink label in 60 seconds

The front of a pack is written to sell. The back is regulated, and that is where the useful information lives. Turn any kids health drink or milk mix over and run these five checks. They take about a minute.

1. What is the first ingredient?

Ingredients are listed by weight, largest first. If the first one or two are sugar, malt or maltodextrin, that is mostly what you are buying. A milk mix that leads with milk solids is built on protein and calcium instead.

2. How much protein per serving?

Find the protein line in the nutrition table and look at the per-serving column, not per 100 g. A child aged 7 to 9 needs about 23 g of protein a day (ICMR-NIN 2020). A serving that adds 1 or 2 g makes little difference; one that adds around 10 g makes a real one.

3. Read the %RDA column, not the nutrient count

Packs often advertise a long list of vitamins and minerals. The %RDA column tells you how much of the day each one actually covers per serving. As a rule of thumb, a nutrient delivering less than about 15% of the day is present but not doing much. Count the nutrients that clear that bar; a list of 30 sometimes shrinks to a handful.

4. Check the added sugar

Indian labels now show added sugars separately from total sugars. Total sugar includes the natural lactose in milk; added sugar is what was put in. Also look at the sweetener's name in the ingredients: refined sugar, liquid glucose and maltodextrin all count, and so do jaggery and dates.

5. Look at what is left out

Scan the ingredients for artificial colours, artificial flavours and preservatives, and decide what you are comfortable with. A short, readable ingredient list is usually a good sign.

Bonus: can you see the test results?

Some brands publish batch-wise certificates of analysis. If a brand lets you match the batch number on your pack to a lab report, it is telling you it has nothing to hide.

How Leap of Love answers the five checks

• Milk is the first ingredient and the only protein source.
• 10 g of milk protein per 33 g serving.
• 29 vitamins, minerals and nutrients, every one at 15% or more of the day, 14 at half or more.
• Sweetened with jaggery only: no refined sugar, maltodextrin or liquid glucose.
• No artificial flavours, colours or preservatives, and lab reports for every batch.

See the full table on the science page, or start with the five-sachet trial pack.