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The serving size is listed at the top of food nutrition labels is very important, because the the values of each nutrient on the rest of
food nutrition labels are based on one serving. There are 2 pieces of information in this section. (1) Servings per package , and (2) Serving size.
The servings per package tell you how many servings there are in total, while the serving size tells you the size of each serving in a standard measurement, such
as mls, grams, or number of pieces. It is important to take note of how many servings you are consuming.
In this example, the package is a 300ml carton of sour cream,
and there are 10 servings in the carton. So, if you consume the whole carton for example, you would have to multiply each per serving
nutrient value that follows
by 10. |
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The next line in food nutrition labels identifies the unit used for the values that follow. Usually, on most labels, nutrient values
are shown per serving in one column, and per a standard serving size such as 100ml or 100g in a second column. This allows you to compare similar
foods. |
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The energy value of the food is listed in this line. This can be expressed either in Calories or Kilojoules.
(For a description of what these two units of measurement are, or to convert between one and the other, use
the calorie convertor tool on this website).
The number of servings you eat determines the number of calories/kilojoules you consume. So, in this example, if you consumed 2
servings (60ml) of cream, your kilojoule intake would be 246kJ x 2, which is 492kJ (or 117 Cals). The amount of energy you need in a day,
depends on your height, weight, gender and activity levels.
(You can use the calorie calculator provided on this website to determine your
optimal daily calorie intake, as well as a breakdown of how much of this should come from fat, protein and carbohydrates.)
Consuming more calories than you need each day will lead to weight gain.
As a general guide, anything above 400 Cals (1680kJ) is high, 100-400 Cals (420-1680kJ) is moderate, and 40-99Cals (168-419kJ) is low.
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The protein content of the food is listed in this line. This is expressed in grams. The recommended daily intake of protein is between 45-60g for
women, and 65-80g for men. Aim to get 40% of your daily calories from protein. Read this article on High Protein Food
for more information. |
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A breakdown of the fat content is provided in this line. Fats are calorie dense, and therefore fat intake in the diet
should be carefully controlled.
Aim to restrict your daily calorie intake from fats to no more than 25%. For a 60kg women, who is not very active, this would translate to
40g per day.
So, if she had 2 servings of the cream in this example, that would be 11.4g, or about 29% of the daily allowance!
Most importantly limit intake of saturated fat to less than 7% of daily calories, and trans fats to less that 1% of daily calories.
Choose foods that have less than 2g of saturated fat per serving.
Excessive intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, can increase your risk of heart disease. Read this article
on Saturated Fats for more information
on what the different types of fats listed on this label are, and on which ones are healthy, and unhealthy.
Another thing to beware of is labels that claim a food is 98% fat free. While this may be technically true, this is based on weight and
not on calories. If the calorie value is high, it may still be loaded with fat.
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A breakdown of the carbohydrate content is provided on this line, in terms of Sugars and Dietary Fibre.
The consumption of refined carbohydrates which are high in sugar is not recommended as it can lead to weight management issues, which you
can read about in the article
on glycemic load. A a general rule, 4 grams of sugar is equal to a teaspoon. Dieticians
recommend that you restrict your sugar intake to about 12 teaspoons a day. Remember that natural sugars are also found in many foods such
as in fruits.
It is also important to get an adequate intake of fiber. A food that is a good source of fibre will have
at least 2.5 - 5g of fibre per serving. The recommended intake of fibre is 25g per day for women, and 30g per day for men.
In this example, there is little
carbohydrate and no fiber in the cream. Aim to get 35% of your daily calorie intake from low glycemic load carbohydrates. |
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This section of food nutrition labels lists values for different nutrients, and sometimes vitamins as well. The one that you should pay attention to is
Sodium (salt), which should be limited, as it can lead to problems such as high blood pressure. The recommendation is for 920-1600mg per day. It is also
important to get adequate calcium in your diet, and this should be in the range of about 1000mg per day. 2 servings of this cream would give you about 70mg. |
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The %DV column is available on food nutrition labels in some countries, and is based on the daily value recommendations for key nutrients for a 2,000 calorie a day diet.
The %DV tells you how much of a certain nutrient you will get from eating one serving of that food. In our example, one serving of this cream will give you 9% of your
fat requirements based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day. The %DV is useful for determining whether a food is high or low in certain nutrients.
A DV of 5% or less is considered low and 20% or more is high.
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