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Comprehending Food Labels

Learning how to properly read food labels enables you to make smarter nutrition choices on the foods that you buy. The food label provides you with relevant information on essential nutrients and ingredients. It is well worth your time to learn how to interpret food labels and how to put them to work for you and your health!

What Is on the Food Label?
The two leading U.S. food label authorities are the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The FSIS regulates labeling on meat and poultry products, while the FDA regulates the labeling and ingredients of just about all other food products.

Food labels are required on most prepared foods such as bread, cereal, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, and drinks. Nutrition labeling is voluntary on fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish. Nutrition labels are not required on foods that contain few significant nutrients, such as coffee and tea, or on certain ready-to-eat foods such as unpackaged deli foods, bakery items, and restaurant foods.

Food labels contain up to four different types of useful nutritional information to help you make healthier choices:

1. The Nutrition Facts Panel is the square box on the food label that provides detailed information on calories and essential nutrients such as fat, sodium, cholesterol, fiber, and several vitamins and minerals. The Nutrition Facts Panel is required on almost all food labels.
2. The ingredient list that appears on packaged foods provides a detailed overview of product ingredients. The ingredient list must appear on all foods labels of foods with more than one ingredient.
3. Nutrition claims or nutrition descriptions can help you to quickly and easily find foods that meet your specific nutritional goals. These include claims such as "low fat," "cholesterol free," "high fiber," and "low sodium." Nutrition claims are not required on labels.
4. Health claims describe the potential health benefits of a specific food or nutrient within the food. These include claims such as that for calcium, which states its benefit for reducing osteoporosis, or folic acid, which reduces the risk of neural tube birth defects. Health claims are not required on labels.

The Nutrition Facts Panel
The Nutrition Facts Panel provides key nutritional information. At its top is the serving size, servings per container, calories per serving, and calories from fat. Below that is a list of the three macronutrients as well as other important nutrients. These nutrients are listed in grams or milligrams.

Below those are listed a few micronutrients, two vitamins, and two minerals, which are displayed in percentages. On the right side of the label is a column headed "Percent Daily Value." Near the bottom of the label is a footnote stating that the Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet that includes a list of Daily Reference Values.

Serving Size
The place to start when looking at the Nutrition Facts Panel is the serving size and the number of servings in the package. Serving sizes are provided in familiar units, such as cups, tablespoons, or pieces, followed by the metric measure. The serving sizes are based on the amounts of food that people normally eat, making it more realistic and easier to compare with similar foods. The serving size is the first item you should look at; all the nutrition information on the label pertains to the serving size stated on the label.

ALERT! Be aware that if you purchase a product because you feel it is low in a nutrient such as fat or calories, you should make sure the serving size is an amount you will realistically eat. If you don't follow the serving size, it may not be low in that nutrient anymore.

On the sample label shown above, the serving size is 1/2 cup, and there are four servings per container. That means that all the information pertains to 1/2 cup. If you ate the whole container, you would need to multiply all of the information on the label by four.

Calories and Calories from Fat
Calories per serving measures how much energy you would receive from a single serving of a food. The label also provides the number of calories in one serving that come from fat. In the example label, there are 90 calories in a serving, and there are 30 calories from fat. This means that out of the total 90 calories per serving, 30 (or a third of them) are coming from fat. We know that calories in food only come from three sources: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. So this also tells you that the other 60 calories are coming from protein and/or carbohydrate sources. Now, if you ate the whole package, you would consume a total of four servings of the food, or 360 calories, with 120 calories from fat. Nutrients on the Label
The specific nutrients listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel were selected because of their relationship to current health issues. Nutrients that are required on all food labels include total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugar, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. Manufacturers can add additional nutrients, but the ones listed are required, Americans generally consume too much of the first four nutrients on the list.

The total fat content consists of both types of fat: saturated and unsaturated (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated). Under total fat, these fats are separated out. Only saturated fat is required to be listed; unsaturated can be listed but is not required. Saturated fat is required because people should be aware of their intake. Lowering your intake of saturated fat can decrease your risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol and sodium are the other two nutrients that most Americans generally consume too much of. Lowering cholesterol can benefit heart health, and for some people, lowering sodium can help decrease the risk for high blood pressure. Both of these nutrients are measured in milligrams.

Fact: Most Americans do not get enough dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, or iron. Including enough of these nutrients in your daily diet can help improve health and reduce the risk of some diseases and conditions.

The two vitamins and minerals on the list are referenced as Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs). The RDI values are established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are used only on food labels. Initially the values on food labels were based on the highest 1968 RDA for each nutrient, to ensure that needs for all groups were met. RDI replaces the term "U.S. RDA," which was introduced in 1973 as a label reference value for vitamins, minerals, and protein in voluntary nutrition labeling. The name change was completed because of confusion that existed over U.S. RDAs -- the FDA values used on food labels -- and RDAs. The RDIs were put into effect when the new food labels emerged in 1992.

The food label should be used to help limit those nutrients you should cut back on, and to increase those nutrients you should consume more of.

Percent Daily Value
The nutrients on food labels are expressed in two distinct ways: in terms of the amount by weight per serving, using grams or milligrams, or in terms of Percent Daily Value. The Percent Daily Value is an estimate of how a serving of the food meets the daily requirement for each nutrient, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. This is meant to help you decide whether a specific nutrient in a serving of food contributes a lot or a little to your total daily intake. Your daily goal should be to meet 100 percent or less of the daily value for nutrients; you should be consuming less fat, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, and cholesterol. Likewise, your goal should be to get at least 100 percent or more of nutrients you should be consuming more of, such as fiber, complex carbohydrates, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Alert! Be careful not to be confused by Percent Daily Values. The value does not indicate how much a nutrient is in a food. It simply means how the food, per serving, compares to your total daily nutritional intake. For example, if a food states 5 percent daily value for fat, that does not mean there is 5 percent fat in the product. It does mean that the product is using up 5 percent of your daily fat needs for the day.

Personalized Calorie Levels
If you consume less or more than 2,000 calories, the daily value can be adjusted for your specific calorie level. Use the table below to find out how you can adjust the total Percent Daily Values for specific calorie levels. If you were on a 1,600-calorie diet -- 20 percent less than the standard 2,000 calories -- you would figure your daily value to total only 80 percent for the day, a 20-percent reduction. The nutrients you would adjust are total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, and dietary fiber. Cholesterol and sodium are always the same amount, no matter how many calories you ingest, so figure for these to always add up to 100 percent each day.

Adjusted Percent Daily Value for Specific Calorie Levels

Calories	Adjusted Percent Daily Value
1,400	70 percent
1,600	80 percent
2,000	100 percent
2,200	110 percent
2,500	125 percent
2,800	140 percent
3,200	160 percent

To find out your recommended amounts for certain nutrients for your personalized calorie intake, follow the values in the table below.

Even though you may not know exactly how many calories you eat in a day, you can still use the Percent Daily Value as a frame of reference.

Nutrient	Calories*
	1,400	1,600	2,000	2,200	2,500	2,800	3,200
Total Fat (g)	47	53	65	73	80	93	107
Saturated Fat (g)	16	18	20	24	25	31	36
Cholesterol (mg)	300	300	300	300	300	300	300
Sodium (mg)	2,400	2,400	2,400	2,400	2,400	2,400	2,400
Total Carbohydrate (g)	210	240	300	330	375	420	480
Dietary Fiber** (g)	20	20	25	25	30	32	37

*These calorie levels may not apply to children and adolescents, who have changing calorie requirements. For specific advice concerning personal calorie levels, consult your doctor or a registered dietitian.

**20 grams is the minimum amount of fiber recommended for all calorie levels below 2,000. How Percent Daily Value Is Calculated
The Percent Daily Values are calculated using the reference values in the footnote of each food label. These values are the same on every food label. The daily reference values listed are calculated based on both a 2,000- and a 2,500-calorie diet. The daily values that are actually listed on the label use the Daily Reference Intake values for the 2,000-calorie diet.

Do you need to know how to calculate percentages to follow this advice? No, the Percent Daily Value does the math for you. It helps you to interpret what the amounts mean (grams and milligrams) by placing them all on the same type of scale (0-100 Percent Daily Value). This helps you tell high from low and understand which nutrients may be contributing a lot or a little to your daily recommended allowance.

The daily value amount of the nutrient, per serving, is calculated by dividing the reference value to see how much of your nutrient allotment is used up for the day. The following example illustrates how to calculate daily value for a food containing 3 grams of fat per serving:

1. The sample label lists 3 grams of fat per serving.
2. The reference value for fat, found in the footnote of the label, is 65 grams per day (based on a 2,000-calorie diet).
3. Divide 3 grams by 65 grams to equal 0.046 or 4.6 percent. Rounded up, this is 5 percent. If you look at the sample label, 5 percent is the Percent Daily Value for fat.
4. This means that when you eat a serving of this product, it is using up 5 percent of the fat you are allowed for a day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, or 5 percent of the 65 grams of fat. In other words, you have 95 percent of your fat allowance left for the day.

Expressing nutrients as a percentage of the Daily Values is intended to help prevent misinterpretations that can arise with quantitative values. For example, a food that contains 150 mg of sodium could seem high in sodium just because the number 150 seems relatively large. In actuality, however, 150 mg is only about 6 percent of the daily value for sodium, which is 2,400 mg per day. On the other hand, a food with 5 grams of saturated fat could be construed as being low in that nutrient; however, that food would provide 25 percent of the total daily value for saturated fat (20 g).

Sugar and Protein
Sugars and protein do not have a Percent Daily Value on the Nutrition Facts Panel. Sugar has no daily reference value because no recommendations have been made for the total amount of sugars to eat in a day. The sugar on the label includes naturally occurring sugars, such as those in fruit and dairy products, as well as added sugars, such as those in soft drinks and baked goods. Check the ingredient list to find more information on added sugars.

You will not always see a Percent Daily Value for protein. It is only required if a claim is made for protein, such as "high in protein," or if the food is specifically meant for use by infants and children under four years old. The government has decided that current scientific evidence indicates that protein intake is not a public health concern for adults or for children over age four. Protein needs are more individualized and should really be based on an individual's weight and physical activity.

Fact: If the Percent Daily Value of protein is required, it is calculated as 10 percent of total calorie intake. On a 2,000-calorie diet, this would equal 50 grams of protein. The minimum amount of protein recommended for all calorie levels is 46 grams.

Quick Guide to Percent Daily Values
To help you quickly decide whether a food is high or low in a nutrient, use this general guide:

• Low: The food contains 5 percent or less of the daily value for a particular nutrient in a serving.
• Good source: One serving of a food contains 10 to 19 percent of the daily value for a particular nutrient.
• High: The food contains 20 percent or more of the daily value for a particular nutrient in a serving.
• More: A serving of food, altered or not, contains a nutrient that is at least 10 percent of the daily value more than the reference food. The 10 percent of daily value also applies to claims of "fortified," "enriched," "added," "extra," and "plus"; but in those cases, the food must be altered.

This means that 5 percent or less of a daily value would be considered low for all nutrients that you want to limit, such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. This also means that 20 percent or more of the daily value would be considered high for those nutrients that you want to consume in greater amounts, such as fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Footnote to the Food Label
The asterisk used after the heading "Percent Daily Value" refers to the footnote in the lower part of the nutrition label. This section tells you that Percent Daily Values are based on recommendations for a 2,000-calorie diet and that your daily values may be higher or lower, depending on your calorie needs. This statement is required on all food labels. The remaining information in the full footnote, including the daily reference values for 2,000- and 2,500-calorie diets, as well as the calories per gram of the three macronutrients, may not be on the package if the label is small. When the full footnote does appear on a label, it will always be exactly the same. It doesn't change from product to product because it shows dietary advice for all Americans, not information about a specific food product. Nutritional Claims
Labels often contain claims of desirable levels of individual nutrients. Regulations now strictly spell out what terms may be used to describe the level of a nutrient in a food and how those terms can be used. Nutrition claims can be used as another valuable tool that can help you to choose foods that are lower in calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and higher in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Some of the general claims used include the following:

• Free: A product contains none or only trivial amounts of one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories. For example, "calorie-free" means fewer than 5 calories per serving, and "sugar-free" and "fat-free" both mean less than 0.5 gram per serving. Other names for "free" that can be used include "without," "no," and "zero." (Skim milk can also be labeled "fat-free.")
• Low: Indicates foods that can be eaten frequently without exceeding dietary guidelines for one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories. Other terms that can be used include "low in," "contains small amount," "few," "low source," and "little."
• Reduced: A product that has been nutritionally altered contains at least 25 percent less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular, or reference, product. A reduced claim cannot be placed on a product if its reference food already meets the requirement for a "low" nutritional claim. Other words for reduced include "reduced in," "less," "lower," "lower in," and "fewer."
• Less: A food, altered or not, that contains 25 percent less of a nutrient or calories than its reference food. For example, pretzels that have 25 percent less fat than potato chips could carry a "less" claim. "Fewer" is an acceptable synonym. Lean or extra lean: Describes the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats. Lean means less than 10 grams fat, 4-5 grams or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 grams. Extra lean means less than 5 grams fat, less than 2 grams saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 grams.
• Percent fat free: A product bearing this claim must be a low-fat or a fat-free product. In addition, the claim must accurately reflect the amount of fat present in 100 grams of the food. Thus, if a food contains 2.5 grams fat per 50 grams, the claim must be "95 percent fat free."
• Light: This descriptor can mean two things. First, that a nutritionally altered product contains one-third fewer calories or half the fat of the reference food. If the food derives 50 percent or more of its calories from fat, the reduction must be 50 percent of the fat. Second, it can mean that the sodium content of a low-calorie, low-fat food has been reduced by 50 percent. In addition, the claim "light in sodium" may be used when the sodium content has been reduced by at least 50 percent.

Health Claims
Health claims on packaged foods are all approved and must be scientifically validated by the FDA. These types of claims describe a relationship between a specific nutrient or food substance and a disease or health-related condition. All of these claims must state the words "may" or "might" help prevent. Eleven claims are now approved for use on food labels:

• Calcium and osteoporosis: Food must contain 20 percent or more of the daily value for calcium (200 mg) per serving, have a calcium content that equals or exceeds the food's phosphorus content, and contain a form of calcium that can be readily absorbed and used by the body.
• Fat and cancer: Food must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for "low-fat" and, for fish and game meats, the requirements for "extra-lean."
• Saturated fat and cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD): Food must meet the definitions for the nutrient content claim "low saturated fat," "low-cholesterol," and "low-fat," or, for fish and game meats, for "extra-lean." It may mention the link between reduced risk of CHD and lower-saturated fat and cholesterol intakes to lower blood cholesterol levels.
• Fiber-containing grain products, fruits and vegetables, and cancer: Food must be or must contain a grain product, fruit, or vegetable and meet the nutrient content claim requirements for "low-fat," and, without fortification, be a "good source" of dietary fiber.
• Fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain fiber and risk of CHD: Food must be or must contain fruits, vegetables, and grain products. It also must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for "low-saturated fat," "low-cholesterol," and "low-fat" and contain, without fortification, at least 0.6 grams soluble fiber per serving. Many companies use health claims as marketing tools, but their purpose is actually to help consumers make informed decisions based on accepted scientific claims.
• Sodium and high blood pressure: To carry this particular claim, a food must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for a "low-sodium" food.
• Fruits and vegetables and cancer: Fruits and/or vegetables must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for "low-fat" and that, without fortification, for "good source" of at least one of the following: dietary fiber, vitamin A, or vitamin C. This claim relates diets low in fat and rich in fruits and vegetables to the reduced risk for cancer.
• Folic acid and neural tube defects: This claim can be used on dietary supplements that contain sufficient amounts of folate and on conventional foods that are naturally good sources of folate, as long as they do not provide more than 100 percent of the daily value for vitamin A, preformed vitamin A, or vitamin D. An example of this claim is "Healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman's risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect."
• Dietary sugar alcohols and dental caries (cavities): This claim basically applies to products, such as candy or gum, that contain the sugar alcohols xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, isomalt, lactitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, hydrogenated glucose syrups, or any combination of these. Besides the relationship of the food's ingredients to dental caries, the claim must also state that that "frequent between-meal consumption of foods high in sugars and starches promotes tooth decay."
• Soluble fiber from certain foods, such as whole oats and psyllium seed husk, and heart disease: Package must also state that fiber needs to be part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol and that the food must provide sufficient amounts of soluble fiber. The amount of soluble fiber in a serving of the food must be listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel.
• Soy protein and risk of coronary heart disease: Food must have at least 6.25 grams of soy protein per reference amount and be low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat.

Ingredient Lists
Food label information is not limited to health claims, nutritional claims, nutritional content, or daily value. Ingredients must also be listed on packaged foods that contain more than one ingredient. Ingredients are listed by weight, from most to least, to help give you an idea of how specific ingredients compare with others in proportion.

The ingredient label is vital to people who are allergic to certain foods and/or additives. To help these people avoid problem ingredients, the ingredient list must include the following, when appropriate:

• FDA-certified color additives, such as FD&C Blue No. 1, by name.
• Sources of protein hydrolysates, which are used in many foods as flavors and flavor enhancers.
• Declaration of caseinate as a milk derivative in the ingredient list of foods that claim to be nondairy, such as coffee whiteners.

If you or your child has a food allergy or sensitivity, it is essential to identify what is safe to eat by searching the listed ingredients on a packaged food label. Specific questions about products should be directed to the food manufacturer. Most manufacturers offer a toll-free phone number that you can use to get specific questions answered.

Tips on the Food Label
It is important to use the food label for a number of reasons. It takes some practice, but once you begin to make reading the label a habit, it is hard not to use it. Keep these tips in mind when reading food labels:

• Read the serving size. The FDA requires that serving sizes reflect amounts customarily consumed for a food item and mandates that all like products use the same serving size. Remember also that all of the information pertains to that serving size.
• Determine the total calories per serving. To get a general idea of fat, take a look at how many of those calories per serving are coming from fat. Remember that there are only three nutrients that make up calories in food: fat, carbohydrate, and protein. So what is not fat is coming from protein and/or carbohydrate.
• Take a look at total fat content, but remember that it is also important to look at what type of fat is in the product. Determine the ratio of saturated fat to unsaturated fat or, if provided, the ratio of saturated fat to polyunsaturated fat to monounsaturated fat. Your daily accumulated ratio should consist of no more than 33 percent from saturated fat.
• Determine whether your cholesterol intake is less than the budgeted 300 mg per day, and check to see if you have balanced out your day to fit the food in.
• Determine whether your sodium intake is less than the budgeted 2,400 mg per day, and check to see if you have balanced out your day to fit the food in.
• Determine total carbohydrates, and check to see how much of the total is coming from sugar, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. Whenever possible, choose foods that are higher in fiber and complex carbohydrates and lower in sugar.
• Don't overlook your vitamins and minerals. If you are choosing orange juice, for example, choose the one highest in vitamin C and the one that has been fortified with calcium. Pack in extra nutrition whenever you can!