Food labels indicate the percentage daily value provided by fat, which corresponds to the percentage of the fat a serving of food gives you compared to the total amount of fat you should eat a day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. However, food labels do not indicate what percentage of the calories come from fat. You can calculate this percentage yourself by following a few easy steps.
Step 1
Locate the grams of total fat and the calorie content of a food. The nutrition facts table always displays the number of calories and total grams of fat found in a serving of food. For example, the food label of a cheese could indicate that 1 oz. of cheese provides 114 calories and 9.4 g of total fat.
Step 2
Multiply the grams of fat by 9. Each gram of fat provides 9 calories, so multiplying the grams of fat by 9 will allow you to calculate how many calories are provided by fat. In the case of a 1-oz. serving of cheese, multiplying the 9.4 g of total fat by 9 allows you to find out that about 85 of the calories in the serving of cheese come from fat.
Step 3
Divide the number of calories found in fat. To determine what proportion of the calories come from fat, divide the number of calories found in fat, which correspond to 85 calories in the cheese example, by the total number of calories, or 114 calories for the 1-oz. serving of cheese. The result gives you 0.75.
Step 4
Multiply by 100 to obtain a percentage. With the cheese example, you can simply multiply the number 0.75 by 100, which gives you 75 percent. This means that 75 percent of the calories found in the serving of cheese comes from fat.
Tips and Warnings
- The "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010" recommends that 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories come from fat.
- Consult your doctor or a registered dietitian for help in determining if your diet contains the right amount and right types of fat for you.
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