Make Food Labels Easy to Read.
Reading Food Labels; the Nutrition Facts. Be smart and read food labels to learn the following … how many servings per container, serving size, and how many calories per serving. Once you determine the serving size, the calories listed are for just one serving, (sorry, not for the whole container.) If there are 4 servings per container, and each serving contains 100 calories, then the whole container (or package) has 400 calories. Oh my, if you eat the whole package, you are not just eating 100 calories, you are eating 400 calories. I call this “label beware”!
Following the calories per serving, is more important information, such as how many grams of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fiber, and protein per serving. If you are on a carbohydrate controlled diet, you can easily determine how many grams of carbohydrate per serving by reading the Nutrition Facts label. The % Daily Values (DV) tells how these nutrients, contribute to your daily food intake, and are based on a 2000 calorie diet. To learn more about % DV’s, read next week’s Market Basket Nutrition Corner by Carolyn Bell, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.
