Food Labels
The Nutrition Facts label found on packaged foods and beverages is your daily tool for making informed food choices that contribute to healthy lifelong eating habits. Food labels tell you what vitamins and nutrients are in a product. They also tell you what portion size you should be eating.
Total Fat
This signifies the total number of fat grams per serving of an item. The total fat is further broken down into saturated fat and trans fat. Not all fats are created equal, and some types of fat are healthier for you than others. Many processed foods contain unhealthy fats (e.g., saturated, hydrogenated, and trans fats). These are less healthy because they all lack the essential fatty acids that the body needs.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Saturated Fat
This describes the total amount of saturated fat grams per serving. Remember this if you eat more than 1 serving of something.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Trans Fat
Trans fats are made from oils that are put through a food processing method called partial hydrogenation.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Cholesterol
This indicates the number of milligrams of cholesterol per serving.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Sodium
This represents the number of milligrams of sodium in each serving of an item. As a general guide: 20% DV or more of sodium per serving is considered high.
Most sodium in our diets comes from packaged and prepared foods, so try your best to eat more whole foods like veggies, fruits, and proteins — all of which contain small amounts of sodium.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Total Carbohydrate
The total carbohydrate shows how many grams of carbohydrate are in one serving. The total carbohydrate is also broken down into fiber and sugar (see next tabs for more info).
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Dietary Fiber
The grams of dietary fiber are already included in the total carbohydrate count, but because fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, the fiber does not increase your blood sugar levels. You may subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate count.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Total Sugars
The grams of sugar are already included in the total carbohydrate count, so you do not need to add this sugar amount separately. The grams of sugar listed include both natural sugars, from fruit or milk, and added sugars.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Includes 2g Added Sugars
These include sugars that are added during the processing of foods, sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. They do not include naturally occurring sugars that are found in milk, fruits, and vegetables.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Protein 11g
The protein shows how many grams of protein are in one serving. Protein provides calories (energy) just like carbohydrates and fat. For every one gram of protein, it provides 4 calories.
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Vitamin D 2mcg
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Potassium
Download the PDF Fact Sheet (124 KB)Ingredient List
This lists each ingredient in the food product by its common or usual name. The ingredients are listed in order of descending weight, so the ingredient that is listed first weighs the most, and the ingredient that name. The ingredients are listed in order of descending weight, so the ingredient that is listed first weighs the most, and the ingredient that weighs the least, is listed last.
- Long list of ingredients? This is a red flag!
- Look for ingredient lists that are as short as possible.
- If you can’t pronounce the ingredient, this is another red flag.
- The food's first ingredient is the most abundant ingredient. The second ingredient is the second most abundant ingredient, and so on.
CONTAINS MILK; MAY CONTAIN SOY INGREDIENTS:
Food labels help many who have food allergies or want/need to avoid foods or ingredients that they or their families are allergic to.
What to Know About Food Labels
Serving size:
This is the calculation that all the other numbers on the food label are based on. Be aware that manufacturer’s often try to limit the serving size so that the amount of calories or fat will appear smaller, especially in chips or cookies. So, if you are considering eating the “whole thing” check out the label and look at the number of servings it contains.
Always check the serving size first!
If you eat more than one serving you are consuming more calories.
For example, the serving size of one box of six “granola bars” is 6, so 1 bar provides one serving.
Servings per container: This lets you know your multiplication factor, should you consume several servings or the entire container or package. For example, an 8 ounce bag of chips that lists 150 calories per one ounce serving, actually contains 1,200 calories if you eat the whole bag!
For Daily Value:
The daily value (DV%) shows you how much a nutrient in a serving of a food contributes to a total daily diet. So in other words it represents the percentage (out of 100%) of the nutrient that the serving size equates to for the day. This is based on a 2,000 calorie diet, but daily calorie intake varies according to body size, age, activity level, and more. This percentage helps us understand whether a serving of food is high or low in a specific nutrient.
Calories:
Are units of energy and represent the number of calories in 1 serving on a nutritional food label. It is helpful to know that proteins and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram.