Remember that a serving and a helping are not the same thing. If you eat more or less than the serving size on the label, you'll need to adjust the amounts of nutrients accordingly.

Table of Contents for "Nutrition Facts" Label Getting Started Food Guide Pyramid Review Introduction What's on the Label Nutrition Facts Label Descriptive Terms Nutrient Content Claims Health Claims Summary Web Sites to Visit Review questions Back to Nutrition Curriculum Lessons

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Nutrition Facts Label

Let's take a look at a Nutrition Facts label. We'll start at the top and work our way down. You'll want to follow along on a food package you have in hand or on the label included here.

Serving size is the first thing you will see on the top of the label. Calorie and nutrient content are given per serving. Serving sizes have been standardized for most foods. They reflect the amounts people actually eat. Standardized servings make it easier to make comparisons. Servings are given in common household measures as well as metric measure. For example, the serving size here is one cup or 228 grams.

Remember that a serving and a helping are not the same thing. If you eat more or less than the serving size on the label, you'll need to adjust the amounts of nutrients accordingly. Just for fun, check the serving size on your box of cereal. Next time you serve yourself a bowl, measure out one serving. Is this more or less than you normally eat?

Next is servings per container . This tells you how many servings you can expect to get. In this package there are two one-cup servings. The next part of the label tells you how many calories and nutrients are in each serving of the food.

Calories per serving is first. In this food there are 260 calories in each one-cup serving. Remember, if you eat two servings, you have to double the calories and all the nutrients. Of those 260 calories, 120 calories are from fat. This is shown to help you meet the dietary guidelines that recommend people get no more than 30% of their calories from fat. This food has 120 of the 260 calories from fat, or 46% calories from fat.

Nutrients listed on the label are those most important to the health of today's consumers. Some nutrients we should try to eat less of such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Some nutrients we need more of such as fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. The label tells you how much of each of these nutrients is in a serving of the food. It's hard to know if that amount is a lot or a little.

To make your job easier, the Nutrition Facts label includes % Daily Value. The % Daily Value shows you how a food fits into your overall diet. For example, if you see a food contains 200 milligrams of cholesterol and 200 milligrams of sodium, would you know it is high in cholesterol and low in sodium? The % Daily Value is the clue. It tells you that it has 66% of your daily value for cholesterol and 8% of your daily value for sodium. Daily Values are based on a daily diet of 2,000 calories. Cholesterol, sodium, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron do not change on a higher or lower caloric intake.

A neat trick you can use is to remember the 5 and 20 rule. If a food has 5% or less of a nutrient, it is considered low in that nutrient. If it has 20% or more, it's considered high.

To learn more about the food label, click on the locator address: http://phys.com. Under the nutrition column, click on Eating Right. Scroll down and click on Label Lessons. Begin at the top of the label and click on each statement to the right and left of the label. Read what each means. As you do the assignment, click on Calculate Your Calorie Requirement when it comes up. Do that exercise as well. After you learn what each thing on the label means, go to the bottom of the label and click on Label Lessons Main Page to return to food label. When you have finished, scroll up and look on the right side of the screen. Click on Find Out how to Decode the Marketing Claims on the front of the box. Click on each descriptive term and learn what it means.