Labels on packaged, canned, and frozen foods can tell you a lot about what is in the food you eat. Learn to use them to choose between foods you should eat more of and those you should limit.
The Nutrition Facts label lists the amount of calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrate, protein, and other nutrients in foods. The list of ingredients on the label tells you everything that is used to make the food. Read both labels to make more healthful choices in how you eat. The list of ingredients lists ingredients from high to low. The higher it is on the list, the more that ingredient is in the food. For example, if the ingredient list has sugar first, it means the food has mostly sugar.
Learn how to read food labels.
1 – Start with the serving information at the top of the label.
This will tell you the size of a single serving and the total number of servings per container (package).
2 – Next, check total calories per serving.
Pay attention to the calories per serving and how many servings you’re really consuming if you eat the whole package. If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients.
The next section of information on a nutrition label is about the amounts of specific nutrients in the product.
3 – Limit these nutrients.
Limit the amounts of saturated fat and sodium you eat, and avoid trans fat. Choose foods with less of these nutrients when possible.
4 – Get enough of these nutrients.
Make sure you get enough of beneficial nutrients such as: dietary fiber, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients you need every day.
5 – Quick guide to % Daily Value.
The % Daily Value (DV) tells you the percentage of each nutrient in a single serving, in terms of the daily recommended amount. As a guide, if you want to consume less of a nutrient (such as saturated fat or sodium), choose foods with a lower % DV — 5 percent or less. If you want to consume more of a nutrient (such as fiber), seek foods with a higher % DV — 20 percent or more.
Here are more tips for getting as much health information as possible from the Nutrition Facts label:
Remember that the information shown in these panels is based on 2,000 calories a day. You may need to consume less or more than 2,000 calories depending upon your age, gender, activity level, and whether you’re trying to lose, gain or maintain your weight.
When the Nutrition Facts label says a food contains “0 g” of trans fat, but includes “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredient list, it means the food contains trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. So, if you eat more than one serving, you could quickly reach your daily limit of trans fat.
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