How to Understand Nutrition Facts Labels on Bread Products
Nutrition labels can be confusing. Bread labels are no exception. Here you can learn how to simplify and understand your reading of their nutrition labels.
Instructions
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Look for the Nutrition Facts label on the back of the package. Regardless of health or ingredient claims, breads will have this label. These panels are set up to give consumers information about the amount of certain nutrients in one serving of the food. Serving size is usually one slice for loaf bread, but for unsliced breads, the serving size might be given by weight. Total calories and calories from fat for that serving are next on the list.
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Get a handle on the "% Daily Value" concept. The values for fat, carbohydrates and some vitamins and minerals are given in both amount per serving and % Daily Value (%DV). This might be the most confusing part of the label. It’s based on a theoretical person who consumes 2000 calories/day. That 2000-calorie person requires certain amounts of vitamins and minerals. That person should limit fat, sodium and cholesterol. If you typically eat less than 2000 calories, your % Daily Values will be slightly different. There is no daily value for either protein or sugars, which are listed as amount per serving. If you’re limiting sugar, comparing grams of sugar per serving between different brands might help you make a choice.
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Use the %DV to evaluate ingredient claims on the front of the package. If the bread label says “high protein”, then the protein value must include a % DV. This rule is true for other nutrients like calcium or fiber. For some nutrients, there is no DV. In that case, no claims can be made. Omega-3 fats are a good example of this issue. You might see “contains omega-3 fats” on the front of the bread, but so far, you will not see "high in omega-3 fats". That’s because there is no DV for omega-3 fats, and so no way to evaluate what is "high" and what isn't.
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Be wary about some nutrition claims. "Free” or "0 %" doesn't always mean zero content. If a bread has less than 0.5 grams of sugar or fat per serving, it can be labeled as “free” of these, even though there is a small amount. If you eat more than one serving, such as using 2 slices of bread for a sandwich, you could be getting 1 gram of fat from your "fat free" bread. Low sodium bread must have less than 140 mg/serving; very low sodium is limited to 35 mg/serving, and low calorie is limited to 40 calories per serving. Technically, a bread can just be sliced extra thin to reduce the calories per serving, by making the slices smaller. To check on that, check the weight of the serving size, listed at the top of the panel. If one bread slice weight 1 oz, and the “low calorie” bread weighs ½ oz, you aren’t really getting a diet bargain, just a smaller slice.
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Tips & Warnings
Important nutrients you get from bread: calories, fiber, carboydrate, protein
Nutrients not important in bread: vitamin A and C
Nutrients that may be added to bread for fortification: protein, calcium, fiber, omega-3 fats
Package labels like "contains..." might not mean anything nutritionally.
