Nutrition fact labels provide information for anyone wishing to control their consumption of calories, fat, cholesterol or other nutrients. Unlike ingredients listings, nutrition labels break down the contents of a package of food or drink into its more generic nutrient components.
Serving Size
Information is based on a serving size in a food package---not the entire contents of the package, on nutritional labels. A package may be considered two or more servings, and therefore, the nutrition information on the label must be multiplied to get the true information for the portion you are consuming.
For example, a quick read of a personal pizza label may show each serving contains 300 calories. On further inspection, you may find the pizza is considered three servings by the maker, and what you eat actually contains 900 calories.
Calories
Nutrition labels not only provide total calories, but the amount of those calories which come from fat. While a relatively low-calorie food may only contain 200 calories per serving, if 100 of those calories are from fat, and you eat 2,000 calories of this food during the day, half of what you eat that day will be fat.
Nutrition labels also break down fat content into grams of saturated and trans fat. To calculate the fat percentage of a food item, take the number of grams and multiply it by nine to get the total calories from fat, and then divide by the total number of calories. So if there are four grams of fat in a 100 calorie item, use this formula: 4 X 9 = 36 calories from fat or, 36 percent of calories for that item are fat.
Nutrients
Nutrition labels provide you with information on sodium, cholesterol, fiber, vitamins, iron, calcium, niacin, etc. Information on the amount (in grams) of proteins and carbohydrates is also listed.
Percentages and Values
Information to help you see if you are meeting recommended daily guidelines for particular nutrients is also provided on nutrition labels. The Percent Daily Value (%DV) tells you how much of a nutrient's recommended daily value you get from a serving of the food in the container. The %DV is based on a daily consumption of 2,000 calories, which is the average adult need for light activity level, according to Page Love, MS, RD, LD, CSSD, a registered dietician who works with professional athletes, local clients and patients with eating disorders on Nutri Fit Sport Therapy. Nutrition labels provide %DV information on dietary fiber, iron, vitamins and calcium.
Missing Information
Trans fat and sugar listings on nutrition labels do not carry a %DV, because the FDA has not been able to determine reliable daily percentage recommendations for them. Most nutrition labels also do not carry %DV information for protein, because the FDA does not consider protein deficiency to be a significant health problem for persons age four and older. Products marketed as "high protein" or for children under the age of four must have this information.
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