How to Read a Nutrition Label: What to Look For and What to Avoid

Reading a nutrition label can be quite confusing! There are calories, grams, milligrams, percentages, and an ingredient list full of words that you don't recognize. Wich so much information packed into a small space, it's easy to look at the label and feel overwhelmed.

As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I recommend focusing on a few key pieces of information. Once you know what you are looking for, reading a nutrition label becomes much easier.

In this guide, I'll walk you through how to read a Nutrition Facts label, what nutrients you should pay attention to, how to understand the ingredient list, and even take a closer look at how to read a Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating label.

Why Should You Read a Nutrition Label

Reading a nutrition label gives you information to help you compare foods and make better choices based on your goals. Maybe you're trying to control blood pressure or lower cholesterol levels. Your nutrition priorities may change depending on your health goals, age, activity level, or medical needs.

Although every one of us needs to focus on the overall healthfulness of the diet, focusing on a couple key nutrients could help get to your goal faster.

Start With the Serving Size

The first place I recommend looking is the servings size and servings per container. This is important because all of the nutrition information on the Nutrition Facts panel is based off of this amount.

For example, if a package contains 2 servings and you eat the entire package, you have consumed twice the amount of calories, sodium, fat, carbohydrates and everything else listed on the label.

Remember, serving size doesn't equal portion size!

Next, Look at Calories

The number of calories you need each day depends on many different factors and should be individulized. The Nutrition Facts label uses a 2,000 calorie diet for its reference, but that recommendation is not right for everyone.

Calories are important, they are the number one factor affecting our waistline. To figure out your own calorie needs for weight loss, weight maintenance or weight gain, it is best to consult with a registered dietitian nutritionist.

Know Which Nutrients to Get More Of

When reading a label, I like to recommend looking at the nutrients that most of us don't get enough of. These include:

Dietary Fiber
Vitamin D
Calcium
Iron
Potassium

The FDA identified these nutrients on the food label and encourages people to choose foods that are higher in these nutrients. Fiber is particularly important because it supports digestive health, heart health, blood sugar control, and promotes feelings of fullness. Foods that provide fiber include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds.

Compare products and choose items that have more of these nutrients for a healthier, nutrient dense diet.

Pay Attention to Nutrients You May Want Less Of

On the other hand, there are some nutrients that Americans eat to much of. Three I recommend paying attention to are:

Sodium

Sodium is one of the biggest things I recommend watching on a nutrition label. Americans are eating way too much sodium and often do not know which items contain high amounts. Too much sodium (salt) in the diet is connected with high blood pressure. I recommend comparing milligrams of sodium per serving rather than looking whether a product is labels "healthy" or "light."

If one serving contains 600 mg of sodium and you eat 2 servings, you've consumed 1,200 mg. The average American consumes 3400 mg per day while recommendations range from 1500-2300 mg per day (depending on age and overall health).

Saturated Fat

Not all fat is bad. Unsaturated fats, like those found in olive oil, avocado, and nuts are part of a healthy eating pattern. However, saturated fat should be paid closer attention too and our goal should be to eat less of these. If the fat grams are coming from mostly polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats rather than saturated or trans-fat, it most likely is a heart healthy food.

Added Sugar

Total sugars listed on the label includes both naturally occuring sugars (such as the lactose in milk or the sugar naturally found in fruit) as well as added sugars. Added sugars are sugars added during processing or preparation.

Added sugars are most important when looking at the food label and the goal is to have less than 36 grams a day for men and 25 grams a day for women. When comparing food labels, look at the Added Sugars rather than assuming all sugar listed on the label is added sugar.

Don't Ignore % Daily Value

The % Daily Value, or %DV, can be a helpful shortcut when comparing different products. As a general rule:

5% DV or less is considered low
20% DV or more is considered high

Now, remember this is for a single item, not a complete meal like you receive from Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating.

The FDA recommends choosing items that are higher in nutrients like fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium and lower in saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.

Now, Move to the Ingredient List

The Nutrition Facts panels tells you the nutrients in the food, whereas the ingredient list will tell you what the food is actually made of. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, meaning the ingredient listed first is what the food item is mostly made up of. This makes the beginning of the list very important to pay attention to.

For example, if sugar is one of the first ingredients, that tells you it is made up of mostly sugar.

Don't Fall for the "If You Can't Pronounce It, Don't Eat It" Rule

We've all had someone tell us, "Don't eat if if you can't pronounce it." It sounds simple, but it's not a great rule of thumb. Some very nutritious ingredients have long or unfamiliar names. For example, ascorbic acid is vitamin C and tocopheral is a form of vitamin E. Other ingredients may be hard to read because they are the scientific name for nutrients or compounds naturally found in foods.

Ingredients I Recommend Watching More Closely

While I don't recommend fearing every unfamiliar ingredients, there are some ingredients I recommend paying closer attention to.

Added Sugars

Look for ingredients such as: Sugar, Cane Sugar, Corn Syrup, High-fructose corn syrup, Syrups. These all are added sugars which we need to eat less of. They contribute no nutritional benefits and just add empty calories.

Artifical Colors, Flavors, and Sweeteners

Artifical food colors similarly offer no nutritional benefits and are used just to make food look more appealing. Artificial sweeteners can appear under names such as: Sucralose, Aspartame, Acesulfame potassium, or Saccharin. Whether you choose to consume them or not is a personal decision, but if you're trying to reduce or avoid them, the ingredient list is the place to find them. At Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, we don't use any artificial ingredients.

Hydrogenated Oils

Partially hydrogenated oils are also known as trans fats. They hae been removed from the food supply but you may still see hydrogenated ingredients on the label. If you're comparing products, check the Nutrition Facts panel to make sure it has 0 g trans fat and look at the ingredients list for hydrogenated oils. If the product has 0.5 g of trans fat per serving of less, they can legally say it is "trans fat free."

The Best Part About a Seattle Sutton's Label? You Don't Have to Do the Math

One of the benefits of Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating is that our dietitians do this math and ingredient checking for you. You can still read the label, and we encourage you to, but you don't have to. We've already done the work for you.

Don't Let the Label Overwhelm You

You don't need to stress about every number. Instead, get in the flow of a simple routine. Check the serving size, look at the calories, check the nutrients you want more of then the ones you want less of, and then tean the ingredient list. And remember, the healthieset food isn't necessarily going to be the one with the shortest ingredient list.

Look at the whole picture and focus on how every food fits into your overall diet.