Nutrition Facts Label

It is good to know how to read the nutrition facts label on food packages when you want to start to eat healthier.



This label that is placed on food packages (in the US) tell us the percentage of the RDA or recommended daily allowance of some vitamins, minerals, fats, sodium, cholesterol, calories, protein and fiber the food contains per serving.

Remember to watch out for hydrogenated fats. Those are the most unwanted processed, factory made fats available. Partially hydrogenated fats are as bad as hydrogenated fats.

Reading Nutrition Facts Labels

A good reason to read food labels is that the serving size is usually stated there. What you had thought was a single serving could sometimes actually be two servings or even more.

It is not always easy to read food labels though.

Here are some guide lines:

Serving Size – the serving size is the average amount of that food one person would normally eat during one meal. This might not reflect the amount people in reality eat during one meal.

Servings Per Package – this is the number of servings the package contains. So if it says 4 servings, you should only eat ¼ of the content of the package for one meal. If you eat 2 servings instead of one, you need to double the amount of fat, calories, vitamins and other nutrients that you see on the nutrition facts label.

Percent Daily Value – the RDA of the nutrients is normally based on a 2000 a day calorie diet.

Calories - here you can find out how many calories there are per serving in this food.

Calories From Fat - here you can see how many calories are from fat. So if most calories are from fat, you should not eat so much of this one. Check the "Total Fat" field to compare.

Total Fat - here you get to know how many grams of fat there is in the food, and how many percent that is of the RDA of fat.

Ingredients – this is the list of all ingredients that have been used to make the product. The first ingredient on the list is the one they used the most of, the second ingredient is the one they used a little less of, and so it goes on until the last ingredient which the used the least of when making this product.

For even more information on food labels, go to this page:

Nutrition Facts Labels

The good thing about fruits and vegetables is that you do not have to worry about reading food labels when buying them.

But if you would be interested in learning what kind of nutrients there are in each fruit you buy, go ahead and visit the fruit list where you can read about the fruit of your choice.

Also visit the vegetable nutrition facts page to learn more about veggies.

Click here to go from "Nutrition Facts Label" to "Nutrition Facts In Fruits & Vegetables"

References:

Dr Bill Sears. The Family Nutrition Book