Understanding Food Labels

Understanding Food Labels

The nutrition labels found on foods help make it easier to determine the amounts of nutrients you are getting and to compare one product’s nutrient content to another. Knowing what to look for on the nutrition label can be difficult and overwhelming, but keeping in mind the 5/20 rule, and understanding the six key food label facts can help you determine what you are looking at when scanning the nutrition label.

The 5/20 Rule

Listed toward the right hand side of the nutrition label are the daily value percentages for each of the nutrients, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. The nutrients that will have a daily value listed are: Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Potassium, Total Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron.

The 5/20 rule states that if the percent value listed on the nutrition label is around 5%, then that food contains a low amount of that nutrient and is not a good source of it, if the food contains closer to 20% then that food has a high amount of that nutrient and is a good source of it ("The food label," 2011). If you want to limit your consumption of foods that contain nutrients such as saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium you should aim to eat foods that contain closer to 5% of the recommended daily value. If you want to raise your consumption of foods that contain nutrients such as potassium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron, you should aim to eat foods that contain closer to 20% of the recommended daily value.

Keep in mind that food nutrition labels can be misleading and confusing to those who are new to looking at labels, or who do not understand what to look for. Understanding the key information on the nutrition label and how to look for it will help you employ rules like the 5/20 rule.

Six Key Food Label Facts

One of the first key components to look for on the nutrition label is the serving size. The serving size refers to the...