Food Labels

Reading food labels is a tricky business, particularly with so many regulations that have made the labels ever more complicated to understand. Nonetheless, as any dietician would tell you, you need to pay attention to your food labels if you care about your health. While you may have your own reasons for looking at food labels, knowing how to read the labels is critical to ensure you can use the information provided easily and effectively. Here are some tips for understanding all that information on food labels that you buy so that you can make choices that are more informed.

The food label typically consists of:

Serving size

Calories per serving

Total nutrients

Footnote

Serving Size

While seemingly obvious, it may surprise you to know the

This is particularly important if you are watching your weight or need to lose some. The calories section informs you of how much energy you will obtain from a single serving of the given food. With fat containing more calories than most of the other nutrients, most food labels also include calories from fat. You do not want to have too much of your calories from fat and hence if you are on a weight regimen you need to watch how much of your total calorie intake is from

It is an explanation of the food label and provides recommendations on how much to eat every day (%DV) if you are on a 2000 calorie diet. Since it is a recommendation by the health authorities, it will usually be the same in all food labels. The DVs (daily values) are the recommended percentages of nutrients to consume every day. You should use the percentage DVs as a guide on how much of a particular nutrient you need to be eating every single. For instance, if the label says the food has a %DV of 5 for fat, you will get 5% of your daily requirement from that