Food Label Facts

If you're looking for healthy food selections but have a hard time deciphering food labels at the grocery store, you are not alone. Nutritional information about vitamins and minerals has been listed on food labels since 1973. In their current format, the labels now include other nutritional information, including serving size and the amounts of calories, fiber, and types of fats per serving.

Food labels are an important tool to help you follow guidelines and good nutrition principles like eating a variety of foods and making sure your diet is rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Food labels also help you to identify foods that contain sugars, salt, cholesterol, and fats. The latest change to food labels, in effect since January of this year, is the mandatory inclusion of information about a food's trans fat content. Trans fats are the most damaging type of fat in packaged foods.

Food labels have many important components. Here are some quick reference points to help you make sense of the valuable information they contain:

• Serving size. This is found in the topmost section of the label. Look for the serving size as well as the total servings in the container. If a serving size is 1 cup and you eat 2 cups, remember to double all the nutrient values listed on the label, including the calories!
• Total calories and calories from fat. This tells you the number of calories a product provides in one serving of the food or how many calories from fat a food contains. Remember: if you're watching your weight, calories you take in need to be less than or equal to calories you burn.
• Percent daily value. These daily values should help you plan meals based on nutrients you want to include in your diet. You should know that percent values are based on a whole day's consumption and not just one meal. Percent values are also based on a person consuming a 2000-calorie diet.

As you compare products in the grocery store, try to avoid adding items to your cart that are high in saturated or trans fats, cholesterol, or sodium. These nutrients are all associated with chronic health problems such as heart disease and stroke. You can lessen your risks of developing these conditions, as well as others like osteoporosis and anemia, by selecting foods that are good sources of calcium, iron, and fiber.