Reading labels

Food labels provide information you need to make healthy choices when planning meals and shopping.

Nutrition facts tables on food products can help identify foods that fit with your healthy eating goals, or help you identify foods that have more or less of a particular nutrient you want.

All packaged foods have a food label (EatRight Ontario) which includes a nutrition facts table, ingredient list and nutrition claims.

Food labels provide information you need to make healthy choices when planning meals and shopping. Let’s take a look at all the different parts of the food label.

Nutrition facts table

The nutrition facts table (Health Canada) tells you the amount of calories and 13 nutrients in one serving size (EatRight Ontario) of that product. The 13 nutrients listed are: fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.

The nutrition facts table can help identify foods that fit with your healthy eating goals, or help you identify foods that have more or less of a particular nutrient you want.

Ingredient list

The ingredient list (Health Canada) shows all of the ingredients used in that product. The ingredients are listed in order of weight, which means the ingredients that weigh the most are listed first. This also means the product contains more of the ingredients at the beginning of the list, and less of the ingredients toward the end of the list.

% Daily Value (DV)

The %DV (Health Canada) can help you compare two products to determine which one is healthier. It can also be used to help you choose products higher in the nutrients you want and lower in the nutrients you don’t.

For example;

• 5% DV or less of a nutrient is considered a little
• 15% DV or more of a nutrient is considered a lot

  Nutrients you want more of	Nutrients you want less of
  Fibre	Fat
  Vitamin A	Saturated and Trans Fat
  Calcium	Sodium
  Iron

Nutrition claims

Nutrition claims (Health Canada) describe the amount of a nutrient in food. A good source of calcium is an example of a nutrient content claim.

A nutrient content claim can help you choose foods that contain a nutrient you may want more of. Look for words such as:

• source, such as, source of fibre
• high or good source, such as, high in vitamin A or good source of iron
• very high or excellent source, such as, excellent source of calcium

A nutrient content claim can also help you choose foods that contain a nutrient you may want less of. Look for words such as:

• free, such as, sodium free or trans fat free
• low, such as low fat
• reduced, such as reduced calories

Keep in mind because nutrient claims are optional and only highlight one nutrient, you still need to refer to the Nutrition Facts Table to make food choices that are better for you.

Health claims

A health claim (EatRight Ontario) is a statement about a food and what it can do for your health when eaten as part of a healthy diet. An example of a health claim is a diet high in fibre may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.

Similar to nutrition claims, health claims are optional, so the best way to determine if a product is right for you is to use the nutrition facts table and read the ingredient list.

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This item was last modified on June 2, 2022