The Nutrition Facts label
Reading the Nutrition Facts panel of food will make you a more informed food shopper. While all the information is there, a few tips on reading the labels will ensure that you can do it quickly and accurately.
Instructions
1. Check the serving size. Before delving into other numbers, look at the serving size suggested. Are there more than one servings in the package? How many servings of this food will you usually eat? Remember, if you eat two servings, you'll have twice the calories and fat.
2. Check the calories per serving and the calories from fat. The average person needs about 2000 calories each day. How much of that will a serving of this food provide? Remember that the serving size and the package size are not the same - there is often more than one serving in a package.
3. Look at the total fat, cholesterol and sodium lines. You want to limit these, so choose foods low in these items. Or, if the food is high in these items (more than 20% daily value), then eat it only on occasion or in smaller portions.
4. Look at the nutrient list of vitamins and minerals. Over the course of a day you want to meet close to 100% of your daily requirements for these, so choose foods rich in vitamins and minerals. A food that contains 20% daily value or more of a nutrient is fairly high, less than 5% is fairly low.
5. Check out the footnote if you need a refresher on "% daily value."Daily value estimates are just that - they are another way of looking at how the nutrients in a food fit into your day. The average person needs about 2000 calories each day, and the values are based on that. So, if you look at the right side of the label, you can see if your food is high in fat, sodium, carbohydrate, or protein by how the %daily value. If a food has a low % daily value for a nutrient, it is low in that nutrient.
Tags: daily value, more than, serving size, 2000 calories, 2000 calories each, about 2000, about 2000 calories