Registered Dietitian Margaret Brum shares advice on how to read a nutrition facts label and ingredient list.
Learning about the calories and nutrients in the food you are thinking about buying can help you make healthy choices. You will find this information in the Nutrition Facts Table on the label of most pre-packaged foods.
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The Nutrition Facts Table contains the following information:
- the serving size
- the calories in a serving
- the amount of 13 core nutrients found in a serving size. These core nutrients are:
- Total Fat
- Saturated Fat
- Trans Fat
- Cholesterol
- Sodium
- Fibre
- Sugar
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Calcium
- Iron
These core nutrients are expressed as a percent daily value (% DV). As a rule, 5% DV is a small amount and 15% or greater DV is a large amount. This rule of thumb may help you choose foods containing:
- small amounts (5% or less DV) of saturated fat, trans fat, and salt
- larger amounts (15% or greater DV) of fibre, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C
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