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What is a food label? |
Nutrition
by Nourish Interactive >> more about the author
Adapted from the article Using Food Labels to Make Healthy Food Choices by Maggie LaBarbera, Registered Nurse.
Food labels provide information about the nutritional content inside a package of food. In the U.S., all food manufacturers are required to provide specific information about the food you are buying to help you make informed, healthy decisions. Understanding the Nutrition Facts can make it easy and quick for you to compare foods based on key nutrients!
Food labels are broken up into sections to make it easy for you to see the nutrition found in a particular food item. Always start with how many serving are in the package (they often have more than one), and how much each serving is ( ½ cup, 1 package, etc). One of the most common mistakes when reading food labels is to forget to check how much of the package counts for a serving! For example, a food label may indicate that a food has 100 calories and only 5 grams of sugar. But if you look at the number of servings, it may state three. That means that if you were to eat the entire package, you would be getting 300 calories and 15 grams of sugar!
After looking at how much is in a serving, you can then easily find information about the calories, fat content, vitamins, sodium (salt), cholesterol and fiber. Food labels also include a list of ingredients telling exactly what is inside the package. The first ingredient represents the ingredient with the most amount, the second ingredient is the second highest amount, and so on.
Reading food labels will make it much easier for you to compare foods and find the foods that have the nutritional value you need, and will help you make healthy choices about the foods you are buying and eating!
You may notice that fresh fruits and vegetables do not have food
labels. That is because they are in their natural form with no
preservatives or other ingredients added to alter them. It is not a
processed food. In general, it is always healthier to buy foods that
are fresh like fruits and vegetables and whole grains and minimize
processed foods.
Learn how to read and compare food labels! Grocery shopping with
your parents is a great opportunity get involved and have some fun.
Make it a grocery store game! You have to be a pretty good explorer to
find the foods that are higher or lower in nutrients. It is all about
comparing foods and choosing the healthier option.
Here are some ideas to help make using food labels fun:
• Find the canned fruits with the lowest amount of sugar
• Find the frozen vegetable highest in vitamin A
• Choose a cereal higher in fiber
• Pick the frozen pizza with the lowest fat
• Select a juice that is lower in sugar
