Food label has been around for over a century but it wasn’t until 1994 that manufacturers were required by the FDA to include food label on their packages. Now days food label is more complex than ever and some can even be confusing to read. This shouldn’t stop you from reading them. Learning how to read food label will help you determine what food is healthy or not and prevent you from becoming a victim of misleading advertisements.

The food label below is from Hospitality Quick Oats.

Food Label

Serving Size: The size of each serving, it is usually located near the top of the nutrition facts. In this example, the serving size is 1/2 cup (45 grams) and there is about 26 serving per carton.

Main Nutrients: This is where you can find information on calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, etc. Keep in mind that the nutrition facts are based on 1 serving which is 1/2 cup (45 grams). In this example, the total calories per 1 serving (oats only) is 170, calories from fat is 25. If 1/2 cup skim milk is added, the numbers jump up to 210 and 30. To keep your body healthy, you should consume food that are low fat. Many nutritionists agreed that food with less than 10 percent fat is healthy for you. In this example the total calories from fat per serving is 15 percent. I got the answer by dividing 25 (calories from fat) and 170 (calories).



Below the calories is the total fat which is 3 grams, saturated fat makes up 0.5 gram of the total fat. According to the label, there is no trans fat. It is important to know that food labeled as “trans fat free” can contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. This is one of the exceptions allowed by the FDA. Saturated fat is the fat you should stay away from as much as possible. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat are the fats that you should consume but in small quantities.

Hospitality Quick Oats has no cholesterol which could be a good thing or a bad thing. There are two types of cholesterol, low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL). The LDL cholesterol is the bad cholesterol because it can cause plaque buildup on the walls of your arteries. HDL cholesterol does the opposite, it helps your body remove LDL cholesterol from your blood, this can prevent plaque buildup. Your liver can produce cholesterol so limit cholesterol as much as possible.

Most food usually have high levels of sodium, Hospitality Quick Oats has none. Sodium benefits your body by acting as a conductor when dissolved. This allows electricity to travel in the body which allows cells to communicate more effectively. Most people consume more than enough sodium from other food sources so this shouldn’t be a problem. Although, consuming too much sodium may lead to certain health problems.

Hospitality Quick Qats has 29 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of dietary fiber and no sugar. Having no sugar means that the carbohydrate is mostly complex carbohydrate (not always true). Complex carbohydrate is better for your body than simple carbohydrate because it takes longer to digest. This keeps your blood sugar more constant which results in longer energy. The 4 grams of dietary fiber is very good for only 1/2 cup of oats. Dietary fiber is very important for preventing constipation, increasing bowel movements, lowering blood cholesterol and removing toxins in the colon area.

The 7 grams of protein is decent for 1/2 cup of oats. Protein is needed to build and repair tissues, it is the building block of muscles, bones, cartilage and skin. Protein is also used by the body to make enzymes and hormones.

Vitamins/Minerals: This section is where you can find the vitamins and minerals found in the food. In this example, 1/2 cup of Hospitality Quick Oats has 0% DV of vitamin A, 0% DV of vitamin C, 0% DV of calcium and 8% DV of iron. With 1/2 cup of skim milk added, it has 6% DV of vitamin A, 2% DV of vitamin C, 15% DV of calcium and 8% DV of iron. It is unfortunate that Hosptiality Quick Oats doesn’t have vitamin A and C because they play an important role for reducing the effects of free radicals.

Ingredients: This section is very important because it is where all the ingredients are listed. By looking at the ingredients section, you can tell if a food contained synthetic vitamins and minerals, preservatives, refined sugar and unnatural chemicals. The ingredients are listed in order of dominance. The most prevalent ingredient is listed first and the least prevalent ingredient is listed last. In the food label example above, rolled oats is the only ingredients.

Percent Daily Values (% DV): Standard values developed by the FDA for indicating how much vitamins or minerals are found in one serving. For example, if a vitamin has a percentage DV of 50 percent, this means that one serving equals half of the FDA recommended intake of that vitamin. Percent daily values are usually based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

FDA requirements for food claim

• No fat or fat free: contains less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving
• Low fat: contains 3 grams of fat or less per serving
• Light fat: 50% or less fat than the comparison or original food
• Lower or reduced fat: 25% or less fat per serving than the comparison or original food
• Cholesterol free: contains less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol per serving
• Low cholesterol: 20 milligrams or less cholesterol per serving
• Saturated fat free: contains less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and 0.5 grams of trans-fatty acids per serving
• Low calorie: 40 calories or less per serving
• Reduced calorie: 25% or less calories per serving than the comparison or original food
• Lean: contains less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams serving of meat or poultry.
• Extra lean: contains less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams serving of meat or poultry.
• Low calories: contains 1/3 the calories of the comparison or original food
• No calories or calorie free: contains less than 5 calories per serving
• Sugar free: contains less than 1/2 gram of sugar per serving
• Reduced sugar: contains at least 25% less sugar per serving than the comparison or original food
• Low sodium: contains less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving
• No sodium or sodium free: contains less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving
• No preservatives: contains no chemical or natural preservatives
• No preservatives added: contains no added chemical preservatives
• High fiber: contains 5 grams or more per serving and must be low fat

Important note: From reading the list above, it shows that the claims can be misleading. For example, “fat free” doesn’t mean the food is totally free of fat. It can have less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. The “per serving” part is important because if each serving is small, the total serving can have a lot of fat in it. This means you will end up consuming more fat than you think.


Article Source: Pro Healthy Life