Deciphering the Nutrition Facts Label
How much calcium is in macaroni and cheese? Which brand of macaroni and cheese has the least fat? The best way to find out this information and more is to read the food label. All food packages bear the Nutrition Facts label, which is full of useful information to help you eat more healthfully. Let's look at a sample label to find out what's inside.

Serving Size

The serving size tells you the amount of food that the nutrient information given on the label is based on. Pay attention to the serving size, including how many servings are in a package, and compare it to how much you actually eat. In the sample label above, one serving of macaroni and cheese equals one cup. If you ate the entire package, you would eat 2 cups, which means you would also consume twice the amount of the nutrients listed on the label.

Calories and Calories from Fat

Calories are a measure of how much energy you get from food. Calories come from three sources: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. The label tells you how many of the calories in one serving come from fat.

Nutrients to Limit
The top half of the nutrition label lists nutrients that can strongly affect your health.

These are the nutrients that can have adverse effects on your health if they are eaten in excess. For example, too much fat, too much cholesterol, or too much sodium may increase your risk of certain chronic diseases including heart disease, some forms of cancer, and high blood pressure. Saturated fat is particularly damaging to your heart and arteries.

Unsaturated fats, which are not required to be listed on a label, but are often listed when they are contained in a food, are a healthier type of fat. Most of the fat you eat should be the unsaturated type (this includes both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated). Each gram of fat, regardless of whether it is saturated or unsaturated, provides nine calories.

Eating too many calories in general can lead to overweight and obesity. Being overweight is a risk factor for many health conditions including type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. Therefore it is essential to also note the total calories listed on the label.

Nutrients to Increase
The top half of the nutrition label lists nutrients that can strongly affect your health.

These are a few of the nutrients that are beneficial to our health, and many Americans may not get enough of some or all of them. They include vitamin A and vitamin C, the minerals calcium and iron, and fiber. Calcium can help decrease the risk of osteoporosis and possibly high blood pressure, while vitamin C acts as an antioxidant. Fiber, which helps to maintain regularity, is also believed to help decrease the risk of certain chronic diseases.

Total Carbohydrate

Here, you can find the total grams of carbohydrate in the product. One gram of carbohydrate provides four calories. Total carbohydrate includes dietary fiber and sugars, which are both listed on the label, as well as other forms of carbohydrate.

The Percent Daily Value (%DV)
The percent daily values are listed in the right-hand column of the Nutrition Facts label. These percentages tell you whether the nutrients in a serving of food contribute a lot or a little to your total daily nutrient intake — 5 percent or less is "a little" and 20 percent or more is "a lot."

For example, one serving of macaroni and cheese provides 2 percent of the daily value for vitamin C. This is a little and therefore this food is not a good source of vitamin C. Be sure to eat other foods rich in this vitamin (fruits and vegetables) throughout the day. On the other hand, one serving of macaroni and cheese provides 20 percent of the daily value of calcium. This is considered "a lot," making this food a good source of calcium. You'll still need to eat other calcium-rich foods throughout the day to reach 100 percent of the daily value, but this food provides a significant amount.

What is my daily value?

The percent daily values are based on recommendations for a 2,000 calorie diet, and are outlined in a table below the Nutrition Facts label. The information in this table is exactly the same on all food products (small food products may not have this table if there is not enough room to display it). These values are based on expert dietary advice for the amount of certain nutrients you should consume during the course of each day.

People's actual calorie intakes can vary widely around 2,000 calories, so you may need greater or lesser amounts of these nutrients based on your actual calorie intake. However, the daily values provide a good starting point to refer to. For example, just knowing that one serving of macaroni and cheese contains 12 grams of fat is not very helpful. But to know that this 12 grams accounts for 18 percent of the total amount you should have in a day is a more useful way of interpreting it. Also, referring to the note that 5 percent is a little and 20 percent is a lot, one serving of macaroni and cheese is closer to "a lot" than "a little" amount of fat.

The percent daily value makes it easy for you to compare the nutrient contents of different brands of similar foods. But first check the serving size to see that it is the same; serving sizes are generally consistent for similar types of food. This can help you choose the product with the lower percentage of fat or the greater percentage of calcium, for example.

Sugars and Protein
There are no daily values for sugars and proteins.

There is no DV for sugars because there is no specific recommendation for the amount of sugar we should eat each day. The amount of sugar listed here includes both natural sugars (such as those that occur in fruits and dairy products) as well as sugars added during processing. To determine which type of sugars a food product contains, check the ingredient list.

Usually, there is no DV given for protein. This is because protein intake is not a major health concern for adults and children over the age of 4. However, if a food package makes a specific claim about its protein intake, such as "high in protein," the %DV must then be included. The average American eats plenty of protein in his or her daily diet. Each gram of protein provides four calories.