Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

Understanding Food Labels
Not so long ago, food choices were limited to what could be grown or raised, hunted or
gathered. Today, grocery stores offer seemingly infinite choices in foods, with entire aisles
dedicated to breakfast cereals and cases filled with a multitude of different yogurts. Faced
with so many choices, how can we decide? Taste matters, of course. But if a healthy diet is
your goal, so does nutrition. Food labels are our window into the nutritional value of a given
food. Let’s examine what we can learn from food labels and how reading them can help us
make smart choices to contribute to a healthy diet.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires food manufacturers to accurately
label foods so that consumers can be informed about their contents. There are 5 types
of information required by the FDA on every food label, except for fresh produce and
seafood 1.2 :
1. Statement of identity (what type of food is it?)
2. Net contents of the package (how much is in there?)
3. Name and address of manufacturer (where was it produced?)
4. Ingredients list (what ingredients are included in the food?)
5. Nutrition information (what is the amount of nutrients included in a serving of food?)
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