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Parts of Food Labels

Eating healthier and taking care of the body can be overwhelming given the wide variety of different diets and food literature. Avoid all the confusion and take a streamline approach to improving eating habits by paying attention to the serving sizes, calories, nutrients and ingredients of foods. To be successful in this approach, however, first learn about the different parts of a food label.

  1. Nutrition Facts

    • According to Kellogg's Nutrition, the nutrition facts part of the food label contains four important areas of information: calories, serving size, nutrient amounts and daily value percentage. The nutrition facts label lists the serving size, such as a 1/2 cup of cereal or a 1/4 cup of milk. You can then find information on how many calories and the amount of each nutrient you will be consuming per serving of the food, such as 100 calories in 1/2 a cup of cereal. You may also notice percentages on the nutrition facts label; these percentages represent the daily value percentage of each nutrient in the food per serving size. So, if a food says it contains 6 percent vitamin C per serving, this means that 6 percent of the amount of vitamin C a person should consume each day is found in one serving of that food.

    Ingredients

    • If you have food allergies or are looking to eat all-natural, you may find the ingredients portion of the food label of particular interest. The ingredients portion of the label lists all the ingredients contained in the food. You won't be able to find specific amounts of each ingredient; however, you will see which ingredients make up most of the product and which ingredients make up the least, since the ingredients are listed in order of weight from least to most, according to Kellogg's Nutrition. So, if you have a milk allergy, you can read the label to see if any milk products are listed to determine if it is safe to consume. If you want to eat mostly all-natural foods, look at the ingredient list to see if any processed foods are in the product, and if so, roughly how much of the product is made up of processed foods.

    Claims

    • Do you want to be health-conscience in your food choices but find yourself grocery shopping in a hurry most of the time? The most helpful "at-a-glance" part of the food label is the claims portion, which allows manufacturers to make claims about the nutrient content of their products. Claims such as "low sodium," "reduced fat" and "high fiber" are all examples of the nutrient claims you will find in this portion of the food label; with this information you can make a quick decision on whether or not to purchase the food.

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