Understanding a Nutrition Facts Label

1. Understanding a Nutrition Facts Label

2. US Food and Drug Admin

3. Sections of a Food Label • 1. Serving Size – at the top • Green color • 2. Calories- below serving size • White color at the top • 3. and 4. Nutrients • Yellow and Blue color • 5. Footnote • White color at the bottom • 6. % Daily Value • On the far right • Purple color

4. US Food and Drug Admin

5. Serving Size • How much is the serving size? • Standard • Compare similar foods • Familiar units • Cups, pieces, tablespoons • How much actually consumed • Servings per container • Multiply if consuming more than one serving • Total amount of calories and nutrients

6. US Food and Drug Admin

7. Calories • Calories per Serving • Amount of energy in each serving • Must multiply calories per serving by number of servings consumed • Calories from Fat • Compare calories from fat to number of calories in each serving • Calculate % • Generally • 40 is low • 100 is moderate • 400 is high

8. US Food and Drug Admin

9. Nutrients Limit These Be Sure to Get Enough of These Total Fat Saturated Trans Cholesterol Sodium Adequate or too much Can increase risk of chronic diseases Dietary Fiber Vitamin A Vitamin C Calcium Iron Usually don’t get enough Can reduce risk of some diseases or conditions

10. US Food and Drug Admin

11. Footnote • The “*” symbol after the heading “%Daily Value” refers to the footnote • “%DVs are based on a 2,000 calorie diet” • Must appear on all food labels • Footnotes are the same on all products

12. US Food and Drug Admin

13. Percent Daily Value • %DV • On right hand side of every food label • Based on 2,000 calorie diet • Great way to compare food products to each other • 5% or less is low • 20% or more is high

14. US Food and Drug Admin

15. Summary • 6 sections to a food label • Serving size, calories, nutrients to limit, nutrients to get enough of, footnote and %DV • Start at the top and work down • Use %DV to quickly compare one food product to another