Reading Food Labels

Understanding what's in the food you're buying can help you make better, healthier choices when you're at the grocery store. Knowing how to read food labels furthers your understanding that much more, so when you're comparing one box of whole wheat crackers to another, you can be sure you're getting everything you want to put in your body and nothing that you don't.

Food Label Requirements
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires most foods carry labels that explain the item's nutritional content, nutrient claims and any required health information. At a minimum, those requirements include the common name of the product, the manufacturer's name and address, and the weight, measure or count of the package's contents.

The FDA also requires that the list of ingredients be in the order of most to least based on quantity and/or weight. For example, if a bag of corn chips lists corn as the first ingredient, corn is the most dominant ingredient on the list.

Serving Sizes
Food labels also identify the item's serving's size, which is key information as most of the nutritional information on the label is calculated on a per serving basis. Knowing the serving size helps you determine how much of any one thing-calories, fat, sodium, etc.-you're taking in.

That pint of ice cream you've got your eye probably has a serving size of ½ cup. If you eat more than ½ cup of ice cream, you'll need to double the amount of calories, fat and nutrients you're consuming; if you eat the entire pint, you'd need to quadruple those.

Calories and Calories from Fat
Food labels not only tell you the number of calories in a serving, but what percent of the daily recommended calorie totals a serving makes up-called the percent daily value (DV). The DV for calories is based on a general dietary guideline for adults of 2,000 calories per day

According to the FDA's 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, low-calorie foods are those that contain about 40 calories per serving; moderate-calorie foods contain about 100 calories per serving and any food with a serving containing 400 or more calories is considered high calorie.

Calories from fat tells you how many of the serving's calories come from fat. The higher the number as compared to total calories, the higher the fat content. If a serving of granola contains 200 calories and 40 of them are from fat, the granola contains 20% fat.

Nutritional Information
Below the calories and calories from fat, you'll find the item's nutrition information, including the amount and often the kind of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and protein. You might also find additional information relating to the vitamin and mineral content of the item. Again, these numbers and any DVs are based on a single serving.

Generally, if an item contains 5 percent or less of a single nutrient, it's considered a poor source of that nutrient. If you're looking for particular foods to provide certain nutrients, look for items that contain between 10 and 20 percent of the DV.

Total Fat, Saturated Fat and Trans Fats
Total fat is shown in grams and as percentage of the DV. Food labels also indicate what percent of the total fat comes from saturated fat, which, if eaten in large quantities, has been shown to increase your risk for heart disease. The same holds true for trans fats, which raise bad cholesterol levels and lower good cholesterol levels.

Be aware that in order for a product to claim that it's trans fats free, it needs to contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving-no trans fats doesn't necessarily mean no trans fats. You'll want to check the item's ingredients for hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils as well. Trans fats are the most dangerous fats, and the lack of a DV indicates they should be eaten sparingly or not at all.

Cholesterol
An item's cholesterol content is listed in milligrams (mg) next to the DV. If you're following a low-cholesterol diet, your doctor's recommendations may vary from the DV, so use the actual number of milligrams to determine if the item is one you want to consume.

Sodium
Sodium is salt. The general dietary recommendation for healthy adults is no more than 2,400 mg per day, in order to maintain healthy blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. Many processed foods contain high amounts of sodium per serving, so it's especially important to know the sodium content for these items.

Carbohydrates, Fiber and Sugars
The carbohydrate total of a food item is listed as total carbohydrates in grams, then broken out to show how many of grams become from fiber and how many come from sugar. Total carbohydrates and fiber both have DVs, but sugar does not; there is no recommendation for sugar intake.

Protein
The last line on the nutrition facts panel is protein. Protein is listed in grams, but there is no DV associated with protein intake. Protein needs vary based on the individual according to factors like age, gender and activity level. Consult your doctor or a nutritionist in order to determine your optimal protein intake.

Vitamins and Minerals
The bottom section of food labels often lists the vitamin and mineral content in a single serving of the item. Here you'll see how much Vitamin A or calcium, for example, a serving of the item contains along with the percentage of DV.