Nutrition Labels: All You Need to Know

Over the past decade, food labeling has undergone a multitude of changes. New regulations have been put in place restricting what claims can and cannot be made. While these changes were made to protect consumers, they can be confusing if you don’t know what to look for. Make the best choices for your health by educating yourself on how to read labels.

What Does A Nutrition Label Include?

Nutrition Facts

The Nutrition Facts section is required to be on every food label. It contains information specific to the food in the package. At the top of the Nutrition Facts section, it lists the serving size, as well as how many servings are in a package. However, in many cases, what people consume in one sitting actually contains several servings worth of food or drink. An example of this is a bottle of soda. Many people will drink a 20-ounce bottle in one sitting, but a full bottle actually has 2 ½ servings. If you aren’t careful, you can easily misjudge how much you are consuming.

The next line underneath the servings is the calorie count. This typically shows the total calorie count per serving, not the number of calories in the package. If you want to calculate the total calories in the package you will need to multiply the calorie number by the number of servings in the package or container.

Recommended Daily Values

The % Daily Value column on the right-hand side of the chart shows what percentage of the recommended amount of each item the product represents. This percentage is based on a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet. If your daily calorie needs are higher or lower, the percentage may not be accurate for you.

What are Recommended Daily Values?

Once you know how to read the recommended daily values, you can determine if a food is a good choice for your diet needs. As with the calorie count, all recommended numbers are based on FDA recommendations for a standard 2,000 calorie diet.

Fat, cholesterol, and sodium are all items that should be limited. Ideally, these should be 5% or less of the Daily Recommended Value. When evaluating a product, you should also consider the number of beneficial nutrients, such as vitamins. A product that contains 20% of the daily recommended value of a nutrient is considered a good source.

Nutrition Claims to Watch For

Free, Low, or Natural Claims

Claims such as sugar-free, low fat, or natural can be deceiving. They can make it appear as though a product is healthy when in fact it is not. Be sure to look at the overall nutrition profile including calories, amount of fat and sodium, and amount of vitamins.

Sugar and Its Many Names

Be aware of alternative names for sugar. The FDA details what to look for when evaluating the sugar content of an item. It states, “If you are concerned about your intake of sugars, make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars include corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup.”

Make Smart Choices

When evaluating whether a product is a good nutritional choice, you need to know how to read the Nutrition Facts label. Understanding how to interpret the numbers correctly will help you make smart choices and avoid being fooled by tricky marketing practices. Use nutrition labels to make smart choices when grocery shopping. Try to limit foods containing saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars. Smart choices include consuming plenty of fluid as well as lean meats, eggs, nuts, seafood, beans, and poultry.

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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.