Five Looks at a Label
About ten seconds, two per look, in the order the package presents them.
Download the PDFPrints on letter paper, one page.
The five looks
Serving size. Every amount in the panel describes one serving, and a package may hold several. It says how many.
5 and 20. % Daily Value says if a serving is low or high in a nutrient. The FDA’s guide: 5% or less is low, 20% or more is high.
Added sugars. They sit on their own line under Total Sugars. The gap between the two lines is the sugar the food already had.
The first two ingredients. Ingredients are listed by weight, heaviest first. The first one or two tell you what you are mostly eating.
Front against back. A phrase on the front is the maker’s summary. The panel and the ingredient list are the detail behind it.
The same five, run on one real label
This is a real single-serve flavored yogurt. We redrew its label and took the brand off. Every number is the label’s own; the pink marks are ours.
Amount per serving: Calories 140, Total Fat 2.5g (3% DV), Saturated Fat 1.5g (8% DV), Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 15mg (5% DV), Sodium 75mg (3% DV), Total Carbohydrate 17g (6% DV), Dietary Fiber <1g (2% DV), Total Sugars 16g (Includes 10g Added Sugars, 20% DV), Protein 11g (22% DV), Vitamin D (0% DV), Calcium (10% DV), Iron (0% DV), Potassium (4% DV).
1One container is one serving.
4Cane sugar, second of nine ingredients.
2Added sugars 20%, protein 22%: both high.
5The front claim sits on top of both.
316 g sugars, 10 g added: 6 g from the milk.
Try This
Run the five once this week on something you already buy. Nothing to change yet. Just look.
The 5%/20% guide and the added-sugars line follow the FDA’s How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label; ingredient order follows 21 CFR 101.4.
Wellness education, not medical advice. For questions about your health, medications, or a condition you manage, discuss it with your primary care provider.