How can the information on a food label help you make healthier food choices?

The food labels offer a lot of nutritional information such as the calories, how many grams of fat (even trans fats and good unsaturated fats) are in a serving, grams of fiber, protein and carbs and even cholesterol. Also, the ingredients list is a good indicator of how good a food is for you. If you see "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredients, then it contains trans fats. Also, limit foods that say "bleached" or "enriched" in the ingredients list. Keep it as natural and whole as possible.

The nutrition facts labels contains -by law- all of the nutritional information about the food product.
It helps you determine how many calories you intake per portion which helps you control, gain or lose weight. It also shows you the amount of individual vitamins and minerals such as calcium and iron and the newest addition, Trans fats which have been linked to heart disease and cancer.

You also find the cholesterol amount per portion, the amount of total fat and total carbs.

It is a great tool to help you follow a better diet.

Moderation is the key to eating healthy and the food labels help you identify when a certain food contains too much of something for you. You can get the most out of labels by understanding what's behind the food pyramid, as in what minerals, vitamins, and other essentials (or nonessential) the various groups are likely to contain. However, just by comparing the labels in similar products you can decide which is the best for you, ie. meeting your needs without excess.

Though I believe the most important part is the allergy information. Most people are fine will a little excess here or there, but allergies can be very life-threatening if not responded to immediately.

I agree with CJ 100% b/c those are the things I look for.

Food Labels Explained
All food packages and containers in the United States are required to list the nutrition of the food within the package.

On all food containers either on the back or side, you will find a section titled 鈥淣utrition Facts鈥?

This section tells you how large a serving is and how many servings there are within the package. Additionally there are listed calories, protein, fat and vitamins that are in the food. Some food companies list only what is needed by law and other food companies have added information to help shoppers choose the best foods.

Understanding Food Labels
Below we are going to go over the different section of a food label and what they mean.
You may want to grab a box or two of food so you can see the examples right on the food you have in your pantry.

Serving Size 鈥?A serving size is the amount of food that people should eat for on food serving; usually written in cups or ounces and sometimes in grams. It is important to note that serving size relates to cooked, ready-to-eat food, not the uncooked food in the package.

Servings per Container 鈥?Tells you how many servings can be made with this package of food.

Amount per Serving 鈥?Is the total calories within one serving of food.

% Daily Value: The amount of nutrients is listed right next to the item in the grams or milligrams. The percentage (%) daily value or 鈥?DV鈥?is on the right side of the column. This tells you how much of your daily needs will be met with one serving. The %DV is based on a diet of 2000 calories. The percentage numbers are helpful for choosing which foods are the best source of nutrients such as fiber, calcium, vitamin A and more.

Total Fat: This is the number of grams of fat per serving and it can help you decide if this food fits in with your diet plan. Any food that has 10 grams of fat or more per serving should be eaten in smaller quantities.

Total Carbohydrate: The daily value for carbohydrates is 300 grams. You may require more carbs if you exercise often or if you are an athlete.

Dietary Fiber: The daily value of dietary fiber is 24 grams. Fiber is a form of carbohydrates also known as 鈥渞oughage.鈥?br>
Cholesterol: The amount of cholesterol you consume in the average day should be less than 300 mg to avoid high cholesterol which is bad for your health.

Saturated Fata: Is one part of the total fat in foods. In fact, saturated fat can cause heart disease even more so then cholesterol and most people don鈥檛 even know that! You should not consume more than 10 to 15 grams of saturated fat per day.
Sodium: The daily value of sodium is 2400 mg.

Potassium: The daily value for potassium intake is 3500mg. Some medications can lower the levels of potassium in your body and these cases you should supplement your potassium intake.

Soluble Fiber 鈥?Helps to reduce the risk of heart disease. Most of the soluble fiber in your food is broken down in the large intestine.

Sugars: Another type of carbohydrates in food is sugar. Sugar includes the naturally sweet part of fruit and other foods along with sweeteners.

Vitamins and Minerals: The food labels list the percent of daily value in one serving. This helps to tell which foods are higher or lower in vitamins and minerals.

Daily Values Chart: Many food labels include a section that tells how much food should be eaten in a 2000 calorie diet. This chart also includes goals for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, total carbs and dietary fibers. This chart can help you decide if it fits within your balanced diet plan.

Calories per Grams: Most food labels list how many calories are in each gram of the major part of food. Fats contain nine calories per gram, carbs contain four and proteins four.

Yes, it can. It contains important information.