Nutrition labels are supposedly there to help us make healthier food choices. But when you’re glancing at the back of a food package in Aisle 6, how quickly can you decode what all those numbers mean? In a recent CampusWell survey, two in three students said that they “sometimes or often” find food labels (also referred to as “Nutrition Facts”) difficult to interpret. What does 4 ounces look like? How much sodium is too much? Is fructose a type of sugar? (Yes, btw, it is.)
“You might think everything is on the label, but it’s not,” says Alaine W., a student at Moorpark College in California. “Or ingredients might be listed in a sort of code that you practically need a degree just to figure out. It is so much work to read and truly understand the label.”
Unfortunately, “there is not always one right or wrong answer,” says Jenna Volpe, a registered dietitian in Austin, Texas. “As a simple rule of thumb, try to choose foods as close to their natural state as possible, and try to incorporate a variety of food groups (e.g., fruits, vegetables, grains, protein) at every meal.”
According to a recent CampusWell survey, students struggle most with:
Understanding serving sizes
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Knowing what certain hard-to-identify ingredients are
-
What the percentage Daily Value (DV) means
“If companies really cared about the health of the consumer, there would be one official label—all the information as plain as can be—then a second label to display the most relevant information to the average person in a way they can readily understand.”
—Matthew H., third-year undergraduate, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
In a recent survey by CampusWell, over half of respondents said they “always or often” check food labels.
Students say they are most likely to read food labels when they are:
- Trying to eat healthier
- Considering an unfamiliar food item
- Dealing with a food allergy or intolerance
- Learning something new about nutrition
- Considering sugar content and serving size
“Food labels give us a snapshot of a food’s composition so we can manage and balance our intake of nutrients. But it’s also important to focus on eating a variety of foods. A good rule of thumb is to ‘eat the rainbow’: By getting a variety of colors in your diet through fruits and veggies, you’re giving your body an array of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to benefit your health.”
—Nishtha Patel, certified nutritionist, London, United Kingdom
1. Serving size
Often, serving size is not obvious. Servings can add up quickly, especially in processed foods. Individually wrapped servings simplify the label but add cost and packaging waste.
Servings per container
Check the number of servings per container to find out how many servings you may actually be consuming. Visual references (comparing portion sizes with common items, or different parts of your hand) can give you a quick and easy estimate of how much nutrition you’d be getting from a food, depending on how much of it you’re putting on your plate.
In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created the Nutrition Facts label and the list of standard serving sizes. This was based on how much people typically consumed when eating different food products. Since then, our eating habits have changed, so serving sizes were given an update in 2016 to better reflect how much people really eat.
Standard serving sizes are generally based on a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet, so sometimes a “serving size” is unrealistically small. It’s a common misunderstanding, but serving sizes are not meant to be a recommendation of how much to eat of any given food. Instead, serving sizes are intended to help you understand the nutrition of a product or compare it to another. Remember that people have different caloric needs, so one serving size doesn’t fit all.
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2. Calories, total fat, total carbohydrates, and protein
These numbers can be informative, but may not be as important as nutritional quality, which you’ll get a better sense of from reading the ingredient list.
Dietary fiber is important. Most Americans don’t get enough. Fiber—found in plant foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains—is the roughage that helps keep our bowel movements regular. High fiber intake is associated with lowering our risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. The FDA recommends that adults eat at least 28 grams of fiber every day.
All fats are not created equal. Watch out for hidden trans fats (e.g., “hydrogenated” and “partially hydrogenated” oils). Studies show that a diet high in trans fats can increase your risk of diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. You might find trans fats/hydrogenated oils in peanut butter, salad dressings, snack foods, candy, and other processed foods. It’s legal to say foods have “zero grams of trans fat per serving” if they contain less than 0.5 grams per serving, but those small amounts can add up if you eat them routinely.
Protein is not generally a health concern; most Americans get plenty. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you may want to pay more attention to your protein intake to make sure you’re getting enough. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight.
For example:
68 kilograms (roughly 150 pounds) X 0.8 grams = 54 grams of protein per day
If you’re lacking, add legumes (like lentils and chickpeas), tofu, tempeh, quinoa, edamame, or other plant-based protein sources. This is where food labels can come in handy. For instance, if you want to increase your protein intake, check the grams per serving in any given food (like pasta) and go with the one that provides more.
3. Sugar and sodium
One helpful change is that the new Nutrition Label (updated in 2016) specifies added sugars, which are included in processing and not part of the food’s natural composition. Still, sugar is tricky to track. Food labels tell us how many grams of sugar are in a serving but give us no guidance about how much added sugar is reasonable to eat in a day. The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of 36 grams of added sugar for men and 25 grams for women.
Take this quiz to find out how much sugar you’re eating.
Like sugar, sodium can also add up quickly. Foods considered “low sodium” contain less than 300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per serving. The ideal limit for daily sodium consumption is 1,500 mg, according to the American Heart Association.
4. Vitamins and minerals
Look for “% Daily Value.” According to the FDA, a good rule of thumb is:
- 20 percent or more: This product provides a high proportion of this daily nutritional requirement.
- 5 percent or less: This product provides a low proportion of this daily nutritional requirement.
5. Ingredients
Pay attention to the first five ingredients, since ingredients are listed in order of quantity, from highest to lowest. Also, remember that some ingredients may have different names (sugar, for example, has more than 50: dextrose, fructose, glucose, etc.).
Generally, less is more: Fewer ingredients usually mean the product is less processed and contains more whole foods.
Understanding and using food labels: US Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Nutritional needs calculator: Active
6 tips for eating healthy on a budget: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Article sources
Nishtha Patel, certified nutritionist, certified functional health clinical practitioner, London, United Kingdom.
Jenna Volpe, registered dietitian, Austin, Texas.
American Heart Association. (2021). How much sodium should I eat per day? Heart.org.
American Heart Association. (n.d.). How much sugar is too much? Heart.org.
CampusWell survey, June 2022.
Dietitians of Canada. (2022). Handy guide to serving sizes. UnlockFood.ca.
Food Insight. (2020, March 9). The nutrition facts label: Its history, purpose and updates.
Harvard Health Publishing Staff. (2022, January 19). How much protein do you need every day? Harvard Health Blog.
Islam, M. A., Amin, M. N., Siddiqui, S. A., Hossain, M. P., et al. (2019). Trans fatty acids and lipid profile: A serious risk factor to cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 13(2), 1643–1647.
Mayo Clinic. (2021, January 6). Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983
US Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Homepage.
US Food and Drug Administration. (2022, February 25). How to understand and use the nutrition facts label.
WellnessCampaign.org. (n.d.). Homepage.