To Make Proper Food Choices,
You Need To Understand The Labeling System

What General Information Food Labels Tell You

Nutrition Information Per Serving

Serving size

Servings per container

Calories per serving

Protein, carbohydrates and fat, in grams per serving

Percentage of U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances (U.S. R.D.A.)

The U.S. R.D.A. are guides to amounts of vitamins and minerals a person needs each day to stay healthy.

These guidelines are set high enough to meet the needs of almost all healthy people in the United States.

Nutrients that are required are: vitamin A, vitamin D, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron and a percentage of protein.

The producer may also choose to list information about saturated and polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and additional vitamins.

What A Label Tells You About Fat Content

Calories are provided by the amount of fat, protein and carbohydrates in the food. Fat has the most calories, equalling 9 calories per gram. Protein and carbohydrates supply 4 calories per gram. The AHA recommends our diets contain no more than 30% of our total calories from fat.

How to determine the calories derived from fat:

Multiply the grams of fat per serving by 9 (the number of calories per gram of fat).

Divide the result by the number of calories per serving.

Multiply the result by 100 to get the percent of fat from calories.

Example: Plain low-fat yogurt ½% milk fat.

Serving size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 90

Protein: 9 grams

Carbohydrate: 12 grams

Fat: 1 gram

Step One: 1 gram of fat (per serving)
x 9 calories (per gram of fat)
9 calories of fat per serving

Step Two: 9 calories from fat per serving divided 90
calories per serving equals 0.10

Step Three: 0.10
x 100
10% of the calories in the yogurt are
from fat.

To Control Fat Content Choose Foods With Less Than 30% Fat Content.

Cholesterol content does not have to be listed but if it is listed, it must be shown in two ways. Milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per serving and milligrams per 100 grams of food. Cholesterol is found in animal products: meats, organ products, egg yolks and dairy products.

Types of Fat:

Saturated fat.

Raises blood cholesterol.

Solid at room temperature.

Main sources - animal products, lard, butter, cheese, meats.

Vegetable sources - Coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

Hydrogenated fat is produced by a chemical process whereby liquid oil is hardened to become solid and, therefore, saturated fat (margarine and shortenings).

Polyunsaturated fat.

Lowers blood cholesterol.

Liquid at room temperature.

Main sources, vegetable products, safflower, corn, cottonseed, sesame and soybean oil.

Monounsaturated fat.

Found in olives, olive oil, peanuts, a solid peanut oil, avocados, pecans, almonds, cashews and macadamia nuts.

What A Label Tells You About Sodium Content

The National Research Council has recommended that 1,100-3,300 mg of sodium is adequate for adults.

American consume an average of 5,000-7,000 mg a day.

Salt (NaCl) which is 40% sodium and 60% chloride is the major source of sodium in our diets.

1 teaspoon of salt = 2,000 mg of sodium.

What A Label Tells You About Carbohydrate Content

A product may list a breakdown of starches and sugars in grams per serving.

The listing found in cereal packages is a clue to sugar content.

Carbohydrates are usually listed in grams.

Remember: 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon; 12 grams = 1 tablespoon.

To calculate the percentage of sugar in a product:

Multiply grams of sugar by 4.

Divide this by total calories per serving.

Multiply your answer by 100 to obtain percentage.

Try not to buy a cereal that has more than 3-4 grams of sucrose (sugar) per serving.

What A Label Tells You About The Ingredients

Most packaged foods will list ingredients on the label.

Ingredients are listed in order of predominance (concentration), largest to smallest.

Any additives used in the product must be listed but colorings and flavorings do not have to be listed by name.

Remember: if fat, cholesterol, salt or sugar are listed as one of the first three ingredients -- avoid the product.