In the space of 15 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement for nutrition facts on food labels has raised public awareness about the American diet. By standardizing food amounts and nutrient intake recommendations, public health organizations have helped Americans to learn more about maintaining a healthy diet. The goal is to reverse the trend toward obesity and related chronic disease that prompted the 1994 labeling law. You can use this information to stay fit.
Serving Size and Calories
Nutrition is turned into numbers on food labels so that you can track your dietary intake. Follow the serving size amounts in order to get accurate calorie and nutrient totals. Serving sizes are listed in both metric weights, such as grams, and practical amounts, such as pieces or cups. The serving amount may vary by the consumer's age, but is always reflected in terms of a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. Total calories are listed below the serving size.
Actual Daily Values
Daily values (DVs) are the recommended daily allowances for the nutrients contained in food products, based on a 2,000-calorie quota. Food labels demonstrate how much of a certain nutrient you'll get from one serving via the percentage your body needs each day for healthy function. For instance, a 1-cup serving of Cheerios cereal with ½ cup of nonfat milk provides 35 percent DV of vitamin B12. This means you need to consume the remaining 65 percent DV of Vitamin B12 from other sources.
Nutrients to Limit
Food labels are set up to highlight the most important nutrition facts: foods with essential elements that you need to encourage, and foods that are potentially harmful when consumed to excess. Nutrients to limit are listed in the top portion and include fat, cholesterol and sodium. A healthy diet can best incorporate these in low amounts of about 5 percent DV or less.
Nutrients to Encourage
Foods to encourage in a healthy diet include vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. These are listed next on the nutrition facts table, followed by other essential vitamins and minerals, and their percentage DVs. To get more of these nutrients into your healthy diet, choose foods with 20 percent DV or more.
Recommended Daily Values
While nutrition fact labeling tells you what you're getting, you may be curious about how much of which nutrients you need. Larger food packages may contain a footnote below the encouraged nutrient list. This lists the maximum recommended amount of, for instance, daily fat (65g) you should get in a 2,000-calorie diet. You can get a complete list of dietary reference intakes for comparison from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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