The food nutrition label makes most people's head spin, but I am here to guide you through understanding it from top to bottom. A must know!



How can we make smart choices in what we buy if we don't even know what the food labels mean? Not anymore! I'm here to help you understand what it all means from top to bottom!

What is a Food Nutrition Label?

Nutrition labels (or food labels) are required for all packaged foods. While I love having whole fresh foods as a big part of my diet, there are many packaged foods that can still be a great addition to a healthy diet.

Food labels were not always a thing. In the 1970's there was a large increase in prepackaged food, which is when the label was first introduced. They have gone through many changes to be the label they are today.

The most recent update as of today was done in 2016. Knowing how to read a food label is an important building block for understanding overall health and wellness. However, the food label can't help you unless you understand it.

What is on a food label

There are many parts to a food label. In simple terms, a food label tells you the serving information, calories, nutrients, percent daily values and below the label itself you will find the ingredients and allergens in a packaged food.

Within the nutrition area, you will see an array of information from amounts of macronutrients, cholesterol, sodium, vitamins and minerals.

Reading the Parts of a Food Label

When it comes to reading a food label, starting from the top and going down is the easiest approach. Here we will go through each section, information it contains and how to understand it.

Remember that the information given is for each serving of food (and for some they also include how much in the entire package).

Serving Information

At the very top of the food label is information on serving size and how many servings are in a food. Serving size has recently been changed to be the amount that is most common to consume. Also, if the number of servings falls between one and two, the label must show it as one.

If there is more than one serving, then the label needs to have two columns, one with information per serving and one with information for the entire package.

Servings sizes should be similar across foods to make it easy to compare. Just remember that if you are looking at the information given per serving, that this is the amount of the food you are eating. Or adjust if it is not.

Total Calories

The next area on the food label has the total amount of calories. Calories are basically how much energy a food has. Generally speaking, calories are the area focused on most when it comes to weight.

Many people ask how many calories are too many, while there is not right answer, according to the FDA, a very loose guide is:

40 calories = low100 calories = moderate400 or more calories = high

Nutrient Content

The next sections focus on the nutrient content. This is where the bulk of the information lies and there are some key things to pay attention to.

Next to each nutrient in this section you will see a % daily value in each serving. This tells you the percent that nutrient contributes towards the daily diet amount. These are based on a 2,000 calorie diet so the actual amounts you need may change.