To Shop Smart and Eat Healthy, Always Read the Food Labels
In addition to helping food shoppers to make good food choices,
food labels also help shoppers learn a lot about how to make quick
comparisons among various food products.
Tips for Reading Food Labels:
Most packaged foods in grocery stores have
labels that give nutrition information. The label is usually called
Nutrition Facts.
For each serving, the Nutrition Facts on the label usually give the following information:
- serving size
- number of servings per container
- amount of total fat and saturated fat
- amount of cholesterol
- amount of sodium, and
- amount of fiber
The ingredients are always listed in the order of the amount in the product.
For example, the ingredient with the largest
amount is listed first, the ingredient listed second has the second
largest amount, and so forth.
If a person eats two
servings, or twice the amount of a serving size, the amount of each
ingredient on the label needs to be doubled.
Foods that are packaged in very small containers, or made by small manufacturers, may not have labels.