Food Label Reading - How to Read a Food Label Guide

It is an open secret that it is impossible to measure every morsel that passes our lips, but it is a good idea to measure most foods and beverages until necessary feel for appropriate portion sizes is work out. Most people are amazed to find out that their idea of a single serving equals actually two or three ones.

If you are into bells and whistles, there are food scales that are preprogrammed with nutritional information, as well as scales that keep a running total of your daily food and nutrient intake. The only tools you really need, however, are a simple and inexpensive gram scale, dry and liquid measuring cups, and idea on reading food labels.

Among all of the mentioned tools, reading of food labels seems to be the most effective way of determining the right kind of food to be bought in the supermarket, thus, making sensible food selection.

Food labels are proved to endow with comprehension of amount and various kinds of nutrients contained in the item which is usually provided with information on saturated fat, sodium, total fat, fiber, and cholesterol amount “per serving.”

However, understanding and reading of these food labels can be very perplexing at times. A typical consumer would definitely ask what those numbers mean and how it will affect his or her diet in case he or she follows the serving guide as stipulated on the food label.

To further have a clear and more comprehensive understanding of the items stated in the food label, here is a list of things that you need to know:

1. Serving size

This primary item is specified in the food label.

The amount of servings stated in the food label refers to the quantity of food people usually consume at one time However, this does not necessarily mean that it reflects your very own amount of food intake.

Moreover, serving size determines the amount of nutrients that enters the body. This means that if you follow the instruction on the serving size, you will obtain the same amount of nutrients according to the serving size that was given in the label.

For instance, if it is said that one serving size equals to 54 grams, that would mean you have to measure 54 grams and eat that and it was one serving. So to speak, the amount of nutrients stated in the food label is the same amount that has entered your body considering the fact that you have just eaten 54 grams.

However, if you have eaten everything, and the food label says that each pack is equivalent to 4 servings, you have to calculate the amount of nutrients that have entered your body. This means that if the food label says 250 calories per serving that means you have to multiply it to four to get the total amount of calories you have taken.

2. Nutrients

This refers to the list of nutrients available in a particular item. Usually, the nutritional amounts are based on both the 2,500- and the 2,000-calorie diets recommended dietary allowances.

In order to understand the numeric value of each item, you should know that the “% daily value” which is indicated in the food label is actually based on how a particular food corresponds to the recommended daily dietary allowance for a 2,000 calorie.

In case you have purchased an item that has a dietary allowance different from the 2,000-calorie diet, you just have to divide the stipulated amount by 2,000 and you will be able to identify the “%daily value” for the nutrients.

3. Ingredients

This refers to the list of ingredients that were used to manufacture the product. The listing is usually arranged from the main ingredients that have the greater amount by weight up to the smallest quantity. This simply means that the actual quantity of the food includes the biggest quantity of the main ingredient or the first item and the minimum amount of the very last ingredient.

4. Label claim

This concerns kinds of nutritional claims of a particular food item. For instance, if an item says it is sodium-free, it has less than 5 milligrams per serving or a low fat item actually contains 3 grams of fat or less.

Indeed, reading of food labels can be very tedious and confusing. Nevertheless, once you get the hang of it, it would be easier for you to watch your diet because you can already control the amount of food that you take.