Nutrition labels are designed to display complex information for consumers in a simple format, but it is often difficult to sift through and make sense of all of the facts and items on each label. Since it's important to read food labels when choosing packaged products and learning more about the nutritional content of foods, as well as any allergy information, it's helpful to pick up some tricks and techniques for digesting the useful information on food labels.
Step 1
Look at the top of each food label, right under the "Nutrition Facts" tag, to get the most pertinent information about a product. Read the top to learn how many servings the product contains and how many calories are in each serving. The top area also lists how many of the calories in the product come from fat. This information is especially useful to people who are on calorie-restricted diets or who want to achieve a certain caloric goal in what they eat daily.
Step 2
Look further down on the nutrition label for information about which components are in the food and how much of each component is present. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends limiting intake of the first items listed on the label: fat (especially saturated fat), cholesterol and sodium.
The label also lists how many grams of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugar and protein are in a food product; vitamins and minerals such as calcium or iron are also sometimes included. According to the FDA, 5 percent or less of the daily value for a component is low, and 20 percent or more is high. So if you want to add more fiber to your diet, for example, seek out products that contain at least 20 percent of dietary fiber per serving.
Step 3
Understand that each percentage number in a food label is based on a daily 2,000-calorie diet, the average daily caloric intake for adults. Younger people may take in fewer calories per day, and extremely active kids or adults may take in more calories to offset the calories they burn. To calculate the true daily value percentages of the foods you eat, estimate how many servings of each product you consume and then figure out the corresponding percentages.
Step 4
Note that a footnote at the bottom of each label shows the FDA's recommended daily limits and allowances for fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and dietary fiber based on a 2,000- and 2,500-calorie diet. Use the weight measurements (such as grams or milligrams) on the nutrition label above the footnote to determine how close the product will place your intake to the recommended daily allowance.
Tips and Warnings
- The FDA requires food manufacturers to list common food allergens on food labels. These include eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts and cashews), shellfish, fish, soy and wheat. The Mayo Clinic notes that fresh produce, meat and some refined oils do not require food allergens listings on the labels, and that "Foods that may inadvertently come into contact with a food allergen during the growing, harvesting or manufacturing process also are exempt. However, although they aren't required to do so, manufacturers may indicate the possibility that trace amounts of allergy-causing foods may be included."
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