Nutrition labels provide information about what is in a food package. They can help you pick foods that meet your dietary needs.

  • Serving size
  • Calories
  • Nutrients, including:
    • Fat
    • Cholesterol
    • Sodium (salt)
    • Carbohydrates (like fiber and sugar)
    • Protein
  • Vitamins (like vitamin C)
  • Minerals (like iron)

Serving Size

The serving size is the suggested amount for you to eat as one meal or snack. It also lets you know the amount of food with the nutrients outlined in the rest of the nutrition label.

For example, say a snack bag of pretzels has 2 servings and each serving has 100 calories. But you usually eat the whole bag. You would be eating 200 calories of pretzels (2 servings x 100 calories). That means you would also be eating double the numbers of  nutrients that are listed on the rest of the label.

Calories

Watching your calories is one way to help you stay at a healthy weight. Everyone is different, so everyone needs a different number of calories each day. Nutrition labels are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, but some people may need to eat more or less calories than that each day.

Nutrients

Different nutrients can be good or bad for you. Most people should limit saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, and salt (sodium). Too much saturated fat and salt can increase your risk for heart disease. Too much sugar can increase your risk for conditions like diabetes.

% Daily Value (%DV)

But how much of each nutrient should you eat in a day? The % daily value on the food label tells you this. It's the % to the right on the label.

For the label above, the food has 3 grams of total fat which is 4% of the daily value. This means one serving of this food provides 4% of the fat an average person needs in a day. This value is based on a typical 2,000 calorie diet. If you eat fewer calories in a day, then 3 grams of fat would provide more than 4% of the fat you need in one day.

If there is no % listed, that means there is no recommended amount to eat in a day. For example, most people don't need a certain amount of protein in their diet.

 

Read food labels and make healthy food choices!