put the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor so any problems can

be reported. The common or usual product name must also be posted. The net contents must

also be listed in weight, measure, or count. Companies can also list health claims on their

packages if they meet certain criteria. For example, a company cannot just say this product

is low in fat so that you will buy it. It has to meet standards set in order to claim

that benefit. If they do meet those standards, a company can choose to put those claims on

their product. As we learned in Chapter 2 some health claims may be less reliable than

others—you must read the fine print. Companies are also required to put a food label on their

package. The food label will list information that can be very helpful in determining if

that food is worth eating or not. Let's look at this food label and describe each section.

At the top of the food label will be the serving size. This is the first thing someone should

look at on the food label. The food label is going to tell you how many nutrients there

are per serving size. For example if the serving size is a ½ cup and you eat a full cup you

would double all the numbers on the food label. The food label will also tell you how many

servings there are per container. The food label is required to list calorie information

next. It will also tell you how many calories are from fat. This is then required to list

several other pieces of information: Total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Sometimes

a label will list mono and poly unsaturated fats, but they are not required to list those

types of fat. Cholesterol, Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, fiber, sugars, and protein will also be listed.

The daily values will be listed as percentages on the side. These apply to a 2000 calorie

diet, so may not be helpful to most people. The daily values will be most useful in comparing

foods. This food has 6% fiber, so it has more than this food which only has 3%. If you are

not on a 2000 diet you wouldn't use those numbers to determine if you were getting an

adequate amount of that nutrient. The food label will also list daily value amounts of

vitamin a, vitamin c, calcium, iron, and any other vitamin or mineral they feel is important

to include. The area after that will be standard on all food labels. It gives information about

the daily values, how many nutrients are needed for someone on a 2000-2500 calorie diet, and

calorie per gram reminders. The food label will then list ingredients. These ingredients

must be listed in descending order of predominance by weight. That means that the ingredient

that the product contains the most of will come first. This can be very important in

determining if this is a good product to choose or not. For example if sugar is one of the

first ingredients then it may be lacking in nutritional value. The food label can be a

very good tool to making good healthy food decisions.