The following are some purchasing pointers:
The bakery: Wholegrain/wholemeal breads are best; brown scones better than fruit scones, avoid rock buns and croissants.
Cheeses: Avoid harder cheeses. While most cheeses are high fat, they have benefits such as calcium - "one serving" of cheese is the size of a matchbox. If you must, go for stronger-flavoured, hard cheeses and eat less of them. Combining mozzarella and cheddar varieties in cooking can reduce fat content.
Meats: Avoid patés, salamis, meats with pastry. Sausages/puddings can have a high fat content though some reduced-fat sausages contain less than half the fat of regular varieties. Lean cooked meats such as ham (though it contains salt) are fine - bacon should be grilled with fat removed before eating; streaky rashers are to be avoided. Minced roundsteak is best, though not always used in premium mince in some outlets.
Fish: Some shellfish varieties should be avoided, though mussels have a low fat content. In the pursuit of oily fish, note that tinned tuna has a lot of its healthy oils removed in processing. Tinned salmon is good when in water, brine or tomato sauce rather than oil. Plain fillets are best.
Poultry: Chicken is a valuable source of protein, though processing into products results in big variations on fat and salt content. Omega 3-enriched eggs are beneficial to a cholesterol profile.
Beans/peas/pulses/lentils: They provide soluble fibre. It binds and removes cholesterol.
Soya/soya products: Help reduce cholesterol but the scientific jury is out on whether they should be consumed by menopausal/post-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer. Equally, not recommended for very young babies.
Chocolate: If you really love it, go for very dark varieties with a cocoa content of 70 per cent plus - it lowers the LDL.
Red wine: A small glass a day, not more! Good for heart rather than cholesterol level.
Juices: Ensure no added sugar, it's not necessary to go for freshly squeezed varieties.
Crisps: There are big variations on fat/saturates/salt content.
Popcorn: Healthy but avoid add-ons.
Chips: Go for chunkier-cut cooked in sunflower oil, though they have significant fat levels - avoid if overweight.
Tinned vegetables: Watch for added sugar/salt.
Biscuits/cakes/pastries: Trans fats always an issue here. Go for fibre if possible. Cookies in most cases have a high trans fat content. Jaffa cakes are low fat.
Cereals: Go for those with no added sugar - salt always present. Cereal bars can have a quite high sugar/fat content.
Dairy foods: Low-fat versions best but watch for sugar content. Plant sterols are proven to help reduce cholesterol but have high calories unless you opt for light versions.
Pizzas: Usually high in fat, especially those with pepperoni and the deep-pan varieties.
Spreads: It's worth spending time studying ingredients, especially where vegetable oil and hydrogenated vegetable oil are involved.
Salad bar: Mixed with vinaigrette rather than mayonnaise.
Also to be avoided: Burgers, garlic bread, waffles. Ice cream. Organ meats (liver, kidney, sweetbread, heart and brain) are high in cholesterol.
Good alternatives: Sorbets, low-fat smoothies, tomato rather than cream sauces.