Meal Planning and Shopping: Learn to Read Nutrition Facts Food Labels

By Shereen Jegtvig, About.com Guide

Updated April 13, 2013

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Do you read the Nutrition Facts food labels when you shop? Since 1994, the United States Food and Drug Administration has required nutrition information to be placed on most food packaging. The Nutrition Facts food labels are easy to find on the back, side or bottom of the packaging. The black and white Nutrition Facts labels may be formatted vertically or horizontally (the vertical version is more common). Small packages may have an abbreviated version of the label.

For example, this is a food label like one that you would see on a can of condensed chicken noodle soup. It looks like a lot of information to understand all at once, so let's look at the Nutrition Facts food label one section at a time.

Previous

• Nutrition Facts Food Label
• Nutrition Facts - Serving Information
• Nutrition Facts - Calories, Fat, Carbohydrates, and Protein
• Nutrition Facts - Vitamins and Minerals
• Nutrition Facts - Suggested Daily Requirements

Next