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THE NUTRITION LABEL��Easy Ways to Use the Label �For Healthy Eating

For more information, please contact:

Food and Drug Administration

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements

Good morning, I’m delighted to talk to you about one of my favorite subjects—Food Label Education

You have likely heard about the New Dietary Guidelines and the new Food Guide Pyramid. Today, I’d like to discuss the third jewel in the government’s nutrition crown—The food label and ways to educate consumers on how to use it.

One the most important messages I’d like to leave with you today is that effective consumer label education requires active, not passive learning. Getting consumers to maximize the health benefits of their choices by helping them apply label information is what counts. Defining terms & providing explanations is passive learning & rarely translates into behavior change.

FDA’s goal is to teach label-building SKILLS that affect the quality of consumer’s eating and food purchasing behaviors. Instead of guessing, we help them INTERPRET the label facts, PUT THEM IN a health CONTEXT, THEN TEACH SKILLS THEY CAN QUICKLY APPLY.

We believe that the SIMPLER THE SKILLS, the MORE LIKELY CONSUMERS WILL BE MOTIVATED TO USE THEM.

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The Nutrition Facts Label

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Now, take a look at this educational version of the Nutrition Facts label. It identifies the 6 basic messages/skills we seek to communicate to health professionals, educators and consumers.

But Before going into details, let’s just look at this label as if it only had two sections, not 6. Can you identify the two parts and how they differ? The colored section on top (all but #5) contains product-specific information (serving size, calories, and nutrient information) that can vary with each food product.

Now look at the footnote at the bottom of the label. It contains the Daily Values for the nutrients listed and dietary advice generally consistent with the DGA. The footnote, which is not found on smaller product labels, never changes from product to product. I’ll discuss it more later.

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OK; Now for the first question: How Many Calories Am I actually Eating?

Many people answer this question by simply looking at the calories listed on the label ? (Not you of course)

So the first thing you want to tell consumers is to look at the serving size AND the number of servings per container: then determine the calories actually consumed.

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One or Two Servings?

Single Serving % DV Double Serving

Serving Size 1 cup (228g) 2 cups (456g)

Calories 250 500

Calories from Fat 110 220

Total Fat 12g 18% 24g 36%

Trans Fat 1.5g 3g

Saturated Fat 3g 15% 6g 30%

Cholesterol 30mg 10% 60mg 20%

Sodium 470mg 20% 940mg 40%

Total Carbohydrate 31g 10% 62g 20%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0% 0g 0%

Sugars 5g 10g

Protein 5g 10g

Vitamin A 4% 8%

Vitamin C 2% 4%

Calcium 20% 40%

Iron 4% 8%

% DV

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Calculating Calories

x 9

x 4

9x12

4x31

4x5

The total amount of calories from these 3 nutrients should = the total number of calories per serving.

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Guide to Calories

40 calories is low

100 calories is moderate

400 calories is high

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Limit These Nutrients

The goal is to stay BELOW 100% of the DV for each of these nutrients per day.

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Get Enough of These Nutrients

Try to get 100% of the DV for each of these nutrients each day.

Consumers can USE the food label not only to help them limit those nutrients they want to cut back on, but also to help them increase those nutrients they need to consume in adequate or greater amounts.

Americans often don't get enough dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron in their diets.

EATING ENOUGH OF THESE NUTRIENTS CAN BENEFIT YOUR HEALTH AND HELP REDUCE THE RISK OF SOME DISEASES AND CONDITIONS.

For example, getting enough calcium may REDUCE THE RISK OF OSTEOPOROSIS, a condition that results in brittle bones as one ages (More on this later). You can also address the benefits of a HIGH-FIBER DIET: FOR EXAMPLE, IMPROVED LAXATION, INCREASED SATIETY, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF REDUCED RISK OF HEART DISEASE , particularly when the fiber is soluble and the diet is low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now let’s look at the footnote—Why is it relevant? You don’t have to know this information but frankly, understanding what the %DV is based on increases the chance people will use it.

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The Footnote

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Examples of DVs versus %DVs*

Here’s another way of looking at the footnote.

Hopefully, it’s now easier to see which column represents the Daily Value for each nutrient listed; how the DVs relate to the %DVs; and what is the dietary advice, i.e., the daily goal for each of these nutrients

The first 4 nutrients, which are in yellow, represent upper daily limits—that means your goal is to stay BELOW the amount for the day. Example: look at saturated fat: the DV is 20g= 100%DV. The goal for Sat fat, is to stay below 20g per day (100%DV) whereas for Total fat the DV is 65g.

Now look at dietary fiber, in blue—the DV is 25g, which represents the minimum for the day. Therefore the goal is to get at least 100%DV every day. The DV for Carbohydrates ( in white) is 300g or !00%DV. This amount is recommended for a balanced 2,000 calorie daily diet but can vary, depending on your daily intake of fat and protein.

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Now let’s talk more about the %DV– What is the %DV and how do you know if it’s high or low??

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The Percent Daily Value

The % DV is based on 100% of the daily value for each nutrient.

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What’s High? What’s Low? �Do You Have to Calculate to Know?

Footnote

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The % DV Does the Math for You

Look here for highs and lows!

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Quick Guide to % DV

5% DV or less is Low

Limit these

Nutrients

Get Enough

of these

Nutrients

20% DV or more is High

Now take a look at the The Quick Guide--it gives you a FRAME OF REFERENCE for deciding if a food is high or low in a nutrient.

5% DV or less is low and 20% DV or more is high for all nutrients, including those you want to limit (e.g., fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium) or those you want to get enough of, like fiber and calcium.

Notice how easy it is to apply the 5/20 Quick Guide to % DV for determining highs and lows.

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YOU CAN USE THE %DV NOT ONLY FOR HIGHS AND LOWS, but also TO COMPARE CLAIMS and to MAKE DIETARY TRADE-OFFS so that if you like a food that’s high in a nutrient like saturated fat, you can balance your remaining choices for the day with foods low saturated fat.

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We come to the last question: Which nutrients have no %DV?

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No % Daily Value

Trans Fat
Sugars
Protein

As you can see, there are three nutrients that have no % DV (for TRANS & SUGARS, THERE ARE NO DAILY VALUES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEM.)

For Protein: Unless a claim is made, or the food is meant for use by infants and children under 4 years old, there is no requirement for a % DV for protein. Current scientific evidence indicates that protein intake is not a public health concern for adults and children over four years old.

Trans fat: Scientific reports link trans fat (saturated fat and cholesterol) with raising LDL (“bad”) blood cholesterol, which increases your risk of coronary heart disease, a leading cause of death in the US. However, experts could not provide a reference value for trans fat nor any other information that FDA believes is sufficient to establish a DV or % DV.

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Now let’s discuss sugars, including added sugars.

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Read the Nutrition Facts Label For Total Sugars

Plain Yogurt

Fruit Yogurt

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STOP HERE!!!!

Using the food labels in the box, answer the questions on the back of your notes.

For more information, please contact:

Food and Drug Administration

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements

Good morning, I’m delighted to talk to you about one of my favorite subjects—Food Label Education

You have likely heard about the New Dietary Guidelines and the new Food Guide Pyramid. Today, I’d like to discuss the third jewel in the government’s nutrition crown—The food label and ways to educate consumers on how to use it.

One the most important messages I’d like to leave with you today is that effective consumer label education requires active, not passive learning. Getting consumers to maximize the health benefits of their choices by helping them apply label information is what counts. Defining terms & providing explanations is passive learning & rarely translates into behavior change.

FDA’s goal is to teach label-building SKILLS that affect the quality of consumer’s eating and food purchasing behaviors. Instead of guessing, we help them INTERPRET the label facts, PUT THEM IN a health CONTEXT, THEN TEACH SKILLS THEY CAN QUICKLY APPLY.

We believe that the SIMPLER THE SKILLS, the MORE LIKELY CONSUMERS WILL BE MOTIVATED TO USE THEM.

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Food Label Practice: Questions

Use the next 3 slides to answer questions 1-6.

What is the serving size of this product?
How many servings per container?
How many calories are in one serving of this food?
How many calories would you eat if you ate the WHOLE CONTAINER of this food?
What nutrients in this product would you consider to be high or low amounts? Explain your answers.
Is this food a healthy choice that would fit in well with a proper diet? Explain your answer in detail using information from the nutrition label.
What is the total number of calories in each nutrient:

Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat

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Label #1

2% Reduced Fat Milk

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Label #2

Fruit Yogurt

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Label #3

Macaroni and Cheese

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