The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires food manufacturers to place nutrition facts on most packaged foods and beverages. Nutrition facts labels contain information about nutrients such as fat, calories and vitamins and are standardized to make them easy to read and understand. Knowing how to read nutrition facts will help you understand the amount of nutrients in your food, allowing you to make better food choices for your nutritional needs.
Step 1
Note the serving size, which appears at the top of the nutrition facts. The serving size is stated in a common measurement, such as cups, ounces or number of pieces, followed by weight in grams. If you eat more or less than the serving size, you'll have to adjust the nutrition information accordingly. For example, if the serving size is one piece and you eat two, double the number of calories, fat grams and so on.
Step 2
Determine the number of calories and calories from fat, located directly below the serving size. Determine the food's percent of calories from fat by dividing the fat calories by the total calories and multiplying by 100. Knowing the amount of calories from fat can help you control the amount of fat in your diet.
Step 3
Check the nutrient section. By law, nutrition facts must include the amount of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. It may also include other nutrients, such as potassium or vitamin D. The amount of each nutrient is listed in grams (g) or milligrams (mg) and Percent Daily Value for the top half of the nutrition facts or Recommended Daily Value (RDV) for vitamins and minerals.
Step 4
Read the footnote about Percent Daily Values, which explains that Percent Daily Values are based on a diet of 2,000 daily calories. If you eat 2,000 calories a day, check the Percent Daily Values in the right column to determine how much of each nutrient has made up your daily diet. If your nutritional needs require more or less calories, you should determine how much of each nutrient you need and calculate your own Percent Daily Values.
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