How to Read a Nutrition Facts Label

Food labels can be confusing. Do you know how to read a nutrition facts label ? Follow these instructions to learn how.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A sample label (look at the label on a food tin in your pantry!)

1. 
   Food Label Sample

   Read the Servings Per Package at the top of the label. This is important because the values of each nutrient are based on ONE serving. So if there are 10 servings in the package, you'll have to multiply the values by 10 if you consume the whole package!

2. Read the Energy Value of the food next. As a general rule, anything above 400 Calories is high, 100-400 Cals is moderate, and 40-99 Cals is low.

3. Read the Fat content section next. Fats are calorie dense, so choose foods that have less than 2g of saturated fat per serving.

4. Read the carbohydrate content on the label. A a rule, 4g of sugar is equal to a teaspoon. Make sure that you don't have more than 12 teaspoons of sugar a day. Also check the dietary fibre in the food. Fibre is good for you. If there is 2.5-5g of fibre, the food is a good source of fibre.

Tips & Warnings

• Nutrition facts are a useful tool for identifying how healthy a packaged food is.
• Consuming more calories than you burn each day, leads to weight gain

Resources

• Secrets of Healthy Eating