Start with the serving size
Every number on the Nutrition Facts panel refers to one serving, and the serving is often smaller than what you would actually eat. A small bag of chips may count as two and a half servings, and a bottle of iced tea as two. Check the servings per container first, then multiply.
Use the percent daily value
The right-hand column shows how much of a day's allowance one serving supplies, based on a diet of 2,000 calories. The FDA's rule of thumb is simple: 5 percent or less is low, and 20 percent or more is high. Aim low for sodium, saturated fat and added sugars, and high for fiber, calcium, potassium and iron. The line for added sugars sits beneath total sugars and separates what the manufacturer put in from what the milk or fruit brought along.
Read the ingredients in order
Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so the first three tell you what the product mostly is. Sugar hides under many names, including corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, cane juice, agave, honey and fruit juice concentrate. A maker can use three of them so that none appears first. For bread and crackers, look for the word "whole" in the first ingredient. "Multigrain," "wheat bread" and "made with whole grains" promise very little.
Claims with rules behind them
- "Organic" means that at least 95 percent of the ingredients are certified organic, while "made with organic ingredients" means at least 70 percent and may not carry the USDA seal.
- "Low sodium" means 140 milligrams or less per serving.
- "Reduced" or "less" means at least 25 percent less than the regular version, which can still be a lot.
- "Fat free" and "sugar free" mean less than half a gram per serving, so several servings can add up.
- "Bioengineered" is a required federal disclosure, while non-GMO seals come from private certifiers with their own published standards.
Allergens
Federal law requires plain-language labeling of nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. They appear either in the ingredient list or in a "Contains" statement right after it. Warnings such as "may contain" or "made in a facility with" are voluntary and unregulated, so their absence proves nothing. Someone with a serious allergy should contact the manufacturer.
Tip Compare two similar products using the per-serving numbers only after checking that the serving sizes match. Two cereals can look alike on paper when one serving is twice the size of the other.
