Nutrition Facts Label

Did you ever pay any extra attention to the food packets that you pick up from the shelves in a supermarket and toss into your shopping carts? Oh!! yes.. The name of the product, price and the best before date is often checked for on a food packet. Anything else?? No? Then you are sure to find out more about it in this article.

The packaging of the food is an interesting aspect of a packed food product; it functions not only to protect the food inside, but also preserves it for an extent of time depending on the type of packaging and is a definite way of promoting the product in the market. The packaging of a food product is filled with a lot of information. It is a vital element which introduces you to the contents of the food product.

The packaging essentially contains the following information:

·   Name and address of the manufacturer.

·   The common or generic name of the commodity contained in the package.

·   Net quantity in terms of standard unit or weight or measure or if sold by number, the number of the commodity contained in the package.

·   The month and the year in which the commodity is manufactured or repacked.

·   The nutrition facts label which provides information on the nutrient content of the food.

·   The retail sale price which is maximum price at which the commodity in packed form maybe sold to the ultimate consumer inclusive of taxes.

·   If sizes are relevant, dimensions of the commodity contained in the package.

Nutrition Labeling refers to the standardized presentation of nutrient content of the food. The information on this label varies with different types of food products depending on their nutrient content.

A nutrition label makes certain claims such as,

1. Nutrition claim: It states, suggests or implies that a food has particular nutritional properties including energy value, content of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
2. Nutrient content claim: It describes the level of nutrient contained in a food. Eg. Low in fat or Iron rich.
3. Comparative Claim: It compares the nutrient levels or energy value of two or more foods. The foods being compared should be different versions of the same food or similar foods.
4. Nutrient function claim: It describes the physiological role of a nutrient in the growth, development and normal function of the body. Eg. Contains calcium for stronger teeth.

Ever pondered over the Nutrition Facts label printed on those food packets?... No? Well, then here is a little about this small yet important part of a food packet. A nutrient facts label acts as an introduction to your food. It helps you to understand the contents of the food. It helps you decide whether it suits your dietary needs and helps you to ascertain the serving size of that particular food. The nutrients on the label are depicted as per the amount of each serving. Nutrition Facts label can be used not only to help limit those nutrients you want to cut back on but also to increase those nutrients you need to consume in greater amounts.

Now, let us try to understand the Nutrition Facts Label better.

A standard Nutrition Facts label is in the format as given in the diagram below; there are 5 major parts of a Nutrition Facts Label:

a)      Header

b)      Calories column

c)       Nutrients Column

d)      Percentage Daily Value Column

e)      Footnote

Fig. 1: Format of a Nutrition Facts Label

1.       Header:

This is the top most part of the Nutrition Label and depicts the Serving size and the number of servings per container of the food. Serving sizes are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods; they are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount, e.g., the number of grams. The size of the serving on the food package influences the number of calories and all the nutrient amounts listed on the top part of the label. The number of servings consumed determines the number of calories eaten.

2.      Calories Column:

This is the second section of the Nutrition Label. It shows the amount of calories per serving and also the amount of calories which come from fat.  Calories are a measure of how much energy is obtained from one serving of a food.

3.       Nutrients Column:

This is the third section of the Nutrition Label. It shows the amount of different nutrients in the food. Few of the vital nutrients like Fats, Carbohydrates, Proteins, Cholesterol, Dietary Fiber, some Vitamins and minerals are depicted in this column. The Fat present in the food is also shown as the amount of Trans fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol in the food.

4.       Percentage Daily Value Column:

This is the fourth section of the Nutrition Label. It shows the percentage daily values of the nutrients obtained from the food. The percentage Daily values are based on the Daily Value recommendations for key nutrients but only for a 2000 calorie diet. The percentage daily value helps to determine if a serving of food is high or low in a nutrient.

5.      Footnote:

Note the * used after the heading "%Daily Value" on the Nutrition Facts label. It refers to the Footnote in the lower part of the nutrition label, which reads, "%DVs are based on a 2,000 calorie diet". This statement must be on all food labels.

Now, let us walk through this sample Skim Milk Nutrient Facts Label in a step by step manner:

Fig.2: A sample of Nutrition Facts Label for skim milk

Step 1:

First let us start from the header of the Label, the header of the label shows that the serving size of the skim milk is 240ml and the container gives 2 servings, which means 1 serving will provide 120ml of skim milk. Simple! Isn't it?

Step 2:

Now look at the Calories column of the label, it shows that 1 serving of skim milk i.e. 120ml provides    80 Calories and since it is skim milk the amount of calories derived from fat are 0 (NIL).

Step 3:

Now coming down to the Nutrients column, in this column we can observe two types of nutrients, one, which have to be consumed in limited amounts and the other type which need to be consumed in enough quantities. The amounts of nutrients will vary with different food products.

Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium need to be taken in limited quantities as they are known to be associated with certain ill-health conditions. Fat and cholesterol intake has to be in great control in obesity and cardiac problems. Sodium is known to influence the heart rate and cause hypertension.

Fiber, Vitamins, Calcium and Iron need to be taken in adequate quantities as they are very essential for bodily functions and deficiency of certain vitamins is associated with some health disorders. Fiber is helpful for good bowel movements. Calcium is known to all as an important mineral for good bone health and Iron is vital for better haemoglobin in blood and prevent anaemia.

From the sample label we can see that 1 serving (120ml) of skim milk provides 0g fat, less than 5 mg cholesterol and 130mg sodium. Also, 1 serving of skim milk provides 8% Vitamin A, 4% Vitamin C, 30% Calcium and 25% Vitamin D. Milk is known to be a significant source of calcium and not a source of iron. The percentage values are the daily percentage values which shall be discussed in the next step.

Step 4:

The column on the right side of the nutrition facts label is the % daily value column. These are the percentage values of the nutrients and are calculated based on a 2000 Calorie diet. Not easy to understand? You don’t have to go that deep into understand it; all you need to know is that, the percentage daily value of 5% or less is low and a percentage daily value of 20% or more is high. Hence, prefer high daily values for essential nutrients and low daily values for the nutrients which need to be limited.

The sample label above shows that 1 serving of skim milk provides 1% daily value of cholesterol, 5% of sodium and 4% of carbohydrates which means that these are low in skim milk. Calcium and Vitamin D are high in skim milk.

You can use the % DV to compare two different food products and make a better choice for you. Or you can use the % DV to choose products that are higher in the nutrients you want more of and lower in the nutrients you want less of.

Step 5:

The last step is reading the footnotes of a nutrition facts label. The footnote reads the * placed near the % daily value.  The values in the footnote remain constant as they are as per the calorie requirement. They change only with the calorie requirement. The footnote shows the amounts of nutrients required in a 2000 calorie and 2500 calorie diet, these values are helpful in understanding the %daily values.

Tada… We are done. Wasn’t that easy? Now onwards don’t just buy a food product, read the nutrition facts label and decide whether it suits your nutrition needs. Happy reading! J

Post by Faiz Lahori