March is National Nutrition Month and we would like to talk about food nutrition labels! Reading and understanding food nutrition labels may help us make faster, more informed food choices for a healthy diet.
(Photo credit: FDA)
1. Serving Information
This section indicates how much is in a serving and how many servings are in the container.
2. Calorie Information
This section lists the number of calories per serving, keeping in mind that one container may contain multiple servings. This label has 2 servings per container, so the total number of calories in this package is 500.
3. Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium Information
Try to limit nutrients highlighted in yellow, especially saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.
4. Vitamins, Minerals and Fiber Information
Be sure that you’re getting enough of the nutrients highlighted in blue: dietary fiber, protein, vitamins and iron.
5. Guide to Percent Daily Value
This section is a guide to percent daily values for a 2,000 and 2,500 calorie diet.