The nutrition information printed on food labels can help you make judicious choices in what to buy and eat. To satisfy your body's needs and maintain your weight, you must eat reasonable portions that limit calories and balance your nutrient intake over time. The Food and Drug Administration's Nutrition Facts section on package labels provides all the figures necessary to evaluate serving portions, calories and essential nutrient contents of foods. Read and compare labels to make healthy food selections and to build nutritionally balanced menus.
Serving Size
When you serve meals or eat at restaurants, the portions determine the nutritional value that you get from foods. Portions can change, as well as differ from person to person. Serving sizes on food labels, however, are standardized by the FDA, to present comparable information among the countless food products. The serving size listing, such as 1 cup, is the reference point for all of the nutritional content claims on the label.
Calories
The nutrition facts label lists calories beneath the serving size information. The calorie amount listed is the amount per 1 serving. This suggested serving size represents an appropriate portion of the specific food to include in an average 2,000-calorie diet. You can adjust these portions to fit your personal diet. When you know how many calories are in 1 cup of a chosen food product, for instance, you'll know that eating more or less than that amount will raise or lower your calorie count.
Nutrient Content
Nutrient groupings place fats, cholesterol and sodium together first; each is an element that you should limit in your diet for health and weight maintenance. Carbohydrates, sugars and proteins are listed next, to be consumed at your discretion. Beneath these, you'll see the vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber nutrients contained in the food product. Their proportions in 1 serving are listed as the percentage of nutrient daily values and/or in grams, by weight.
Daily Values
Daily values, or DVs, are aids that show you how much of a nutrient your food serving contributes to your daily totals. Iron content of 50 percent DV, for example, would equal 9 milligrams, or half of the 18 mg of iron you need for the day. Some packages offer further reference by printing the recommended DVs for the nutrients that their foods contain, so you know what the numeric value is that you're shooting for. The FDA makes this optional listing a footnote in the nutrition facts.
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