Foods' nutrition labels and packaging offer a variety of information and make a host of claims about the nutritional value of foods. You may think you know how to read a nutrition label, but did you know that the kinds of health claims foods can make are strictly regulated - and that, for example, a claim that something is a "good" source of a certain nutrient or a "high" one has a specific meaning? Grab a couple of food packages and follow along as we decipher the language of food labels.

Just the facts

We'll start with the Nutrition Facts label, and point out a few things you may not have known. Don't forget that all information on the label is based on the "serving size," which may differ dramatically from how you or your child consume a given product.

Nutrition labels are required on almost all foods, except the foods which provide very few nutrients such as coffee, alcohol and spices. Some restaurants are kind enough to provide nutritional information, but they are not yet required to do so nationwide - this is a huge disservice, but it will hopefully change in the near future.

Percent daily value (% DV) reflects the percentage of certain nutrients a food may supply, and is based on a diet of 2000 calories/day. (The average female needs about 2000 calories/day, and the average toddler weighing between 20-25 pounds needs around 1000 calories/day.) Although it can be confusing to calculate the actual numbers, just remember that the % daily value is trying to inform you if a food is high or low in nutrients.

As a general rule of thumb, less than 5% DV for any nutrient is considered a low amount and greater than 20% DV is considered a high amount. So instead of trying to calculate the exact amount of calcium or vitamin C that your child is eating, just look at the % DV to determine if a specific food may be nutritious. And when the serving sizes of foods are similar, you can compare the % DV between these foods to determine which one may pack more nutritional value. For example, if you are comparing one serving of milk to one serving of ice cream, you will notice that milk contains 30% daily value (or 300 mg calcium) and ice cream only contains 8.5% daily value (or 85 mg calcium). Clearly, milk contains much more calcium! In addition, if your son eats a higher fat snack with 20% of the daily value in the morning, you could try to balance his afternoon snack with a lower fat choice.

Food labeling lingo

Now let's look at the front of the package, where companies offer claims about why you should consider their product nutritious. Did you know that the terms "no fat" and "fat-free" do not actually mean "fat free"? They actually indicate that the serving contains less than 0.5 gram fat per serving. Consumers typically believe such foods contain zero grams fat, but they may contain up to 0.49 grams fat per serving and be labeled as "fat-free." The same goes for "trans fat-free."

Here are a few more nutritional claims made on packaging, and what they mean:

• "Lower fat" or "reduced fat" means that a serving contains at least 25% less fat than the original version of the same product.


• "Lite" means that a serving contains 1/3 less calories than the original version.


• "Reduced sugar" means the product contains 25% less sugar than the original version.


• "High fiber" products contain 5 grams of fiber or more per serving.


• "Good source of fiber" means the product contains 2.5 to 5 grams of fiber per serving.


• "Good" source of any nutrient means that it contains 10-19% daily value of that nutrient per serving.


• "Excellent" or "high" source of a nutrient means it contains 20% or more of the daily value per serving.

Confused by or curious about any other items on the Nutrition Facts label or claims made on food packaging? If so, let us know!