Consumers are often misled, reading the front of food packages, by words that give an impression a food is good for you. In order to be able to use the word “healthy” on the front side food label, the food must contain less than the allowed limit for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium or at least 10% of the Daily Value (%DV) for certain nutrients such as vitamin C and fiber. Here's how to read nutrition labels.

Before we get into how to read nutrition labels, it's worth noting that the January app allows you to simply scan the barcode on a food package and it will provide you with the complete nutritional profile — along with what that food will do to your blood sugar, so you can make smarter decisions about what foods to eat and avoid.

Get the January app here.

How to read nutrition labels: the front of packages

Many nutrition experts have suggested that consumers need more information to make smart choices. After years of debate, the FDA has proposed a new rule for nutrition labels on front-of-food packaging: a product could only be called “healthy” if it meets the standards set forth in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Ruling for implementation of the new system is expected to be a slow process, but would include tools such as traffic light schemes and star ratings aimed at helping consumers to navigate a product label and make healthier choices at the grocery store more easily. 

In the meantime, although current food labels may be a bit difficult to interpret, they can be useful for making healthier food choices. The FDA has strict guidelines that must be adhered to for “nutrient content claims.” For example, for a product to be labeled as “low sodium,” it must contain 140 milligrams or less per serving. Or, to bear the claim “excellent source of fiber,” the food must contain more than 20% of the recommended daily value of fiber.

It is also important for consumers to be aware of products with statements that don’t necessarily make them a healthier choice, but are all too often enough to persuade shoppers to put them in their cart. Words such as organic, natural, and non-GMO have important meanings of their own; however, they say very little about nutritional value. Take sugar as an example: regardless of whether it is organic or non-GMO, or if it is derived from a natural source such as sugar cane, the fact is — it is still sugar. 

Other alluring claims include:

• “Multigrain” or “Made with whole grain”: Even if more than one grain is used, those grains might be refined and contain very little whole grain. Details on interpreting grain language on bread labels can be found here.
• “Low” or “Reduced fat”: Products labeled as such are required to have less fat than a standard reference food, but often fat is reduced at the cost of adding other undesirable ingredients (such as sugar).  
• “Low-carb”: Technically, there is no legal definition for low-carb, but consumers may associate products labeled as low-carb as healthier choices — which may (or may not) be true. 
• “Fortified” or “Enriched”: Nutrients are added to improve the nutritional value of some foods. For example, some cereals are fortified with folic acid as a means to reduce the incidence of birth defects, but those cereals still might be made with refined grain and contain a high level of sugar — which could very well negate the product being healthy. 
• “Gluten-free”: Some consumers may equate products labeled gluten-free as healthier, which is not necessarily the case for everybody. For individuals diagnosed with celiac disease. gluten-free foods are necessary; and they are also important for those who are sensitive to gluten. However, just like their gluten-containing relatives, gluten-free foods can be ultra-processed or loaded with undesirable and unhealthy ingredients.
• “Made with real fruit”: Although you might see a box of gummies or fruit roll ups that say they are made with what originated as a piece of fruit, these types of products typically contain very few remnants of real fruit — and they certainly don’t provide the equivalent nutritional value of whole fruit. 

How to read nutrition labels: the back of the packages

Regardless of claims on the front of food packages, you really don’t know what is in a product or if it is a healthy choice until you flip it over. So let's read the nutrition label on the back of the package, and there you will find factual details to help you interpret whether (or not) a food is a nutritious choice that could possibly benefit your health. 

A good place to start is the ingredient list, followed by the Nutrition Facts box. Foods that contain more than one ingredient must have each component listed in descending order with the largest amounts listed first. 

Tip: Look for products that list whole foods as the first three ingredients, and be skeptical of foods with long lists of ingredients that you don’t recognize.

As stated at the bottom of the Nutrition Facts box, % DV tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes, using 2,000 calories per day as a standard. The %DVs are based on reference amounts (expressed in grams [g], milligrams [mg], or micrograms [mcg]) of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day and can help you determine if a serving of food is high or low in a nutrient. Less than 5% DV is generally considered low; and 20% or more is considered high.

Here is a quick breakdown of the required components in the Nutrition Facts box:

• Serving Size: Each nutritive value is based on a serving size, an important label component to be aware of. Although food amounts are standardized to be able to compare similar foods, the serving size may be a smaller amount than that which most people typically consume. As an example, consumers might not consider the fact that  “single serve” beverages and snack foods often contain more than one serving per package. 

Tip: Remember that the number of servings you consume determines the number of calories you eat — and excess calorie intake is linked to obesity.

• Calories: Simply put, calories are a measure of the energy you get from food. Although 2,000 calories per day is the standard reference value used for labeling, an individual’s calorie requirements vary with their age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level. The Human Nutrition and Food Safety Division of the USDA has an easy-to-use, online tool for calculating daily nutrient recommendations based on the most current data.‍
• Total Fat: Labels are required to list total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat, with the total amount of fat being calculated as a percentage of calorie needs; (again, based on a 2,000-calorie diet). The most recent guidelines recommend limiting saturated fat to less than 10% of total calories to reduce risk of heart disease. It is also recommended to minimize intake of trans fats because of their potentially negative impact on health. For more information on dietary fats and food sources, see Dietary fats: Which are healthy, which are not?.

Tip: A clue that a product contains trans fats is if the ingredient list includes “partially hydrogenated oil.”

• Cholesterol: A fat-like substance derived only from animal foods, dietary cholesterol may elevate the sticky type of fats in the bloodstream and increase risk for cardiovascular disease in some individuals. (However, the in vivo mechanisms and causality regarding dietary cholesterol continue to be debated in the scientific community; learn more in How to lower cholesterol.) The %DV is based on the recommendation from major medical organizations to consume less than 300 mg of dietary cholesterol per day. ‍
• Sodium: An excess intake of sodium, another word for salt, has been linked to increased risk for high blood pressure. Current guidelines recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams per day, which is only about one teaspoon of salt. ‍
• Total Carbohydrate: Labels require three elements under Total Carbohydrates: Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars, and Added Sugars. Guidelines suggest that 45-65% of daily calories come from carbohydrates, and fiber recommendations range from 25-35 grams per day. Total Sugars include those naturally present, such as in milk and fruit, as well as any sugar that is added. Added sugars should be less than 10% of calories per day. For further details on carbohydrates, see Confused about carbohydrates.‍
• Protein: The amount of protein needed is based on body weight, activity level, and muscle-building or weight loss goals. A quick estimation of protein needs can be calculated by multiplying weight by 0.36, which translates to ~54 grams per day for a sedentary woman of 150 pounds and 65 grams per day for a male of 180 pounds. ‍
• Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, Potassium: The lower third of the label includes these four micronutrients that, while only needed in small amounts, are lacking in the daily diet of many Americans. .

Key takeaways

That should give you a good idea as to how to read nutrition labels. Americans generally consume too much sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat in their packaged foods and not enough fiber, vitamin D, iron and potassium. Newly proposed front-of-label packaging would allow consumers to quickly identify foods that are high or low in those nutrients — which could be a significant public health benefit. Meanwhile, knowing how to navigate the information provided on the back of food packages allows consumers to choose foods that contain more of the nutrients they desire and less of those they don’t need or want,  benefiting overall health.

And of course, don't forget to use the January app to seamlessly look up food, drinks, and even the nutritional profile of your favorite dish at your favorite local restaurant. With January, you can scan the label or even search via a restaurant's menu — and best of all, not only will you find out the nutritional profile, our AI will predict how your unique body will respond to eating that food, and if needed, offer helpful alternatives to better manage your metabolic health.

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