Reading labels on food
Use This Information to Improve Your Nutrition!

Reading labels on food and understanding the information is essential to healthy eating. The nutrition data provided on food labels provides much of the information you need to control the amount and type of calories you consume.

Fortunately for us, federal regulations require that FDA- and USDA-regulated products put established food nutrition facts on their labels for this very reason! We should all learn what these food labels are telling us and use them to improve our food choices and resulting nutritional intake.

Reading labels on food - Daily Value Reference

The food label reference value, Daily Value (DV), comprises two sets of dietary standards: Daily Reference Values (DRVs) and Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs). Only the Daily Value term appears on the label, though, to make reading labels on food less confusing. So the Daily Value numbers are what we will focus on when dissecting the food label. But just so we understand what makes up the Daily Value, here is a brief description of the DRV and RDI values.

Food Label Reference Information

Daily Reference Values have been established for macronutrients that are sources of energy: fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrate (including fiber), and protein. They have also been established for cholesterol, sodium and potassium, which do not contribute calories.

Reference Daily Intakes is a set of dietary references based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances for essential vitamins and minerals and, in selected groups, protein. The term "RDI" replaces the term "U.S. RDA", which was established in 1968 by the National Academy of Sciences. It is updated periodically to reflect current scientific knowledge.

The DRVs for the energy-producing nutrients are based on the number of calories consumed per day. A daily intake of 2,000 calories has been established as the reference. This level was chosen, in part, because it approximates the caloric requirements for postmenopausal women. This group has the highest risk for excessive intake of calories and fat.

The breakdown of DRVs for the energy-producing nutrients in the food label nutrition data are:

• total fat based on 30 percent of calories
• saturated fat based on 10 percent of calories
• carbohydrate based on 60 percent of calories
• protein based on 10 percent of calories
• fiber based on 11.5g of fiber per 1,000 calories

The Daily Reference Values for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium shown in the food label nutrition data are:

• total fat: less than 65g
• saturated fat: less than 20g
• cholesterol: less than 300mg
• sodium: less than 2,400mg

By using the %Daily Values in reading labels on food, you can easily determine whether a food contributes a lot or a little of a particular nutrient. In addition, you can compare different foods with no need to do any calculations. A high percentage means the food contains a lot of a nutrient and a low percentage means it contains a little.

Look to see whether the nutrients most of us need more of (such as total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, and certain vitamins and minerals) have high percentages. Look to see whether the nutrients most of us need to limit (such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and – for some people – sodium) have low percentages.

The goal is to choose foods that together give you close to 100 percent of each nutrient for a day, or average about 100 percent a day over a few days, depending on the nutrient.

For example, if your goal is 2,000 calories, your total fat intake would be no more than 65 grams, the upper limit recommended for a 2,000-calorie daily diet (listed on the lower section of the label). If the food you're preparing has 16 grams of fat per serving and shows the %Daily Value for total fat per serving at 25 percent, then you know that all the other foods you eat that day should total 75 percent or less of the Daily Value for total fat (49 grams). This would result in the daily maximum of 65 grams of fat (16 + 49).

You can use the %Daily Value column to easily compare one product to another. If you want to lower the fat in your diet, you can compare products and select the ones with the lower percentage. You can also use the %Daily Value to make dietary trade-offs with other foods throughout the day. This means you do not have to deprive yourself of a favorite food that might be high in fat, if you watch what you eat the remainder of the day.

Reading labels on food will help you understand one of the most important things to watch when calculating your dietary intake, the Servings Per Container number. In the example illustration, the servings per container are 4. This means that if you consume the entire contents of the container, you need to multiply all of the values on the label by 4! For example, total calories become 360 instead of 90 and the total fat becomes 20% DV instead of 5% DV, etc. This is very important and is easily overlooked!

Another important piece of nutrition data provided on the label is the breakdown of sources of fats. Notice that the amount of saturated fat is listed separately from the total fat value. It is important to always try to restrict the amount of saturated fat in your diet. In this particular example, you can see that of the 3g of fat, none of it is saturated fat, which looks great.

Summary
The U.S. government has mandated the inclusion of this standardized food label on all FDA- and USDA-regulated food products since 1994. This information is of great value and can help us be much better informed consumers. Simply by taking a little extra time at the grocery store reading labels on food and using this nutrition data, you can make much more informed food choices and greatly improve your overall diet and nutrition.

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