Understanding Food Labels

680 Words3 Pages
Understanding Food Labels SCI/241 August 17, 2012 Understanding Food Labels Nutrition food labels can help us choose a healthier diet and reduce the risk of related diseases. By understanding how to read the foods labels, this gives you information about the nutritional value of a food. Individuals who are dieting use the food label to keep track of their calories, fat, protein, and all other nutrient intake. The 5/20 rule helps you compare nutrients in similar foods and judge how a food’s nutrients contribute to what you eat each day. Five percent of daily value (DV) or less is low; choose foods with a low DV for nutrients such as cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat. 20% DV or more is high; choose foods with a high DV for nutrients such as calcium, fiber, vitamin C, Vitamin A, and iron. General rule of the thumb, anything that is five percent and below is a poor source of good nutrients and anything 20% or above is a bad source of bad nutrients and anything in the middle is a medium source of nutrients. Example of this is Jif peanut butter, which as only seven grams of protein and only two grams of fiber. The protein is above five percent so it is good for you however; the fiber is below the five percent, which is bad. This does not mean the peanut butter is bad for you or good for you. This means the peanut butter is in between the good and bad. Now, adding the bread and seeing the DV percent can make the peanut butter better or worse for you. Nutrition food facts on the label show you six facts you should know and they are The Serving Size, which tells you how to count the rest of the label. The calories, which tells you how much calories you will consume per serving size. The Nutrients is in two components good and bad nutrients, which is generally the amount per serving size you will eat, such as fat, saturated fat, Trans fat, cholesterol,

More about Understanding Food Labels

Open Document