Trying out food products in a new country can be fun, but also frustrating when you have no idea what the different options mean. If you want to take a short cut, here are some basics that come handy in the supermarket. You can also consider this your first Finnish lesson.
The suffix -ton means without, hence
sokeriton, sometimes abbreviated as sokton – no sugar, NB usually it means the product contains artificial sweeteners
rasvaton – no fat
gluteiiniton – no gluteine
laktoositon – no lactose
suolaton / suolaamaton – no salt
Another way of putting it is:
ei sisällä sokeria/rasvaa/gluteiinia/laktoosia/suolaa – does not contain sugar/fat/gluteine/lactose/salt
ei sisällä pähkinää – does not contain nuts is something many may be looking for, unfortunately you are more likely to see
saattaa sisältää pieniä määriä pähkinää – may contain traces of nuts
In fruit juices or yogurts you may see
ei lisättyä sokeria – no added sugar, or
vain hedelmien oma sokeri – only sugar from the fruit
Many products are available with different degrees of something, hence
vähä in the beginning of the word stands for ”low”
vähälaktoosinen – low lactose, common acronyms for such products are HYLA Valio brand, and Into Arla products
vähäsuolainen – lightly salted, pansuola or pansuolattu, which sometimes appears in packages of cold cuts, means that it has been salted with a product where some of the sodiumchloride is replaced with a more healthy option
vähärasvainen – low fat
voimakas in the beginning of the word stands for extra in this context, literally it means strong, so for example in cheese packages it means that the product has a strong taste
voimakassuolainen – extra salted, may appear in butter/margarines or cold cuts/other meat products.
Butter & margarines usually come in 3-4 versions
normaalisuolainen – ”normal” salt – for Valio butter the package is dark blue
vähäsuolainen – low salt – for Valio the package has a light blue part
suolaamaton/suolaton – no salt – for Valio the package has a green part
voimakassasuolainen – extra salt – for Valio the package has a red part, and I think red is typical to mark extra salted for other brands as well.
Finally, the acronym for organic is
LUOMU (comes from luonnonmukaisesti viljelty ”cultivated in a natural way”). You will find some LUOMU products in any supermarket, sometimes the ladybird is used as a sign for luomu products. More tips on buying luomu will follow later.