How to read a nutrition label
Welcome to The Spotter!
I am Nolan Vannata. This newsletter is a part of my mission to make health, fitness, and nutrition content that is evidence-based, digestible, practical, and accessible.
What can you learn from a nutrition label?
On every nutrition label, you are going to find four sections:
Serving information
Calories
Nutrients (macronutrients and micronutrients)
% daily value
“Food labeling is required for most prepared foods, such as breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, drinks, etc. Nutrition labeling for raw produce (fruits and vegetables) and fish is voluntary.”
The FDA dictates what information is displayed on nutrition labels. This information is based on current public health priorities and concerns, which is not always the complete composition of the food. Label requirements have changed over the years, most recently in 2016.
There are several things to note about this change:
‘Serving Size’ and ‘Servings Per Container’ are displayed in a larger and bolded font.
‘Calories Per Serving’ is MUCH larger and bolded.
‘Calories from Fat’ has been removed.
‘Added Sugars’ was added to carbohydrate content.
‘% Daily Value’ was updated.
The micronutrients listed are now vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium.
The footnote is less detailed.
Below is an image from the FDA comparing the previous label to the new label.
This article will provide more information about the four sections found on a nutrition label as well as provide context about the information provided.
Serving information
The serving information section will provide you with the size of one serving, as well as how many servings are in the container. The rest of the nutrition label, unless otherwise stated, refers to the nutritional facts of the designated serving size.
It is important to note that serving sizes are not recommended portion sizes. A serving size represents how much the FDA thinks a person would normally eat, not how much you should actually eat. How much you should eat is highly individual. I could not find any information about how the FDA determines this quantity, so if you know about this, please reach out to me!
Calories
Below the serving information, you will find calorie information. This is the number of calories per serving unless otherwise stated.
Certain foods that are commonly overeaten are required to have two separate columns: ‘Per serving’ and ‘Per container’. For example, below is a nutrition label of Ben And Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream (the best flavor).
Because of how common it is for people (me sometimes) to eat the entire pint of ice cream, the “Per container” column was added. This label must be from 2016 since it’s updated but includes trans fats — trans fats have been banned in the United States since 2017 and 57 other countries since 2021 at the latest. Although, I had this exact ice cream last week and I can assure you that the label looks very similar in terms of calories and serving size.
If you are looking to lose weight, you should get in the habit of looking at this section. Reducing total calorie consumption is necessary for fat loss. You could lose weight by only eating ice cream, but whether you actually feel energized, satisfied, and maintain muscle mass will depend on your food choices.
Nutrients
The nutrients section includes all required information about the macronutrient (protein, fats, carbs, alcohol) and micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) composition.
Reminder:
Fats have 9 calories per gram
Carbs have 4 calories per gram
Protein has 4 calories per gram
Alcohol has 7 calories per gram
Depending on your nutrition goals, you may want to get more or less of a specific macronutrient. For example, if you are looking to fuel a workout in 1 hour, you may want to prioritize consuming carbohydrates while minimizing fat and fiber. If you want to learn more about this, read my article on fueling your workouts.
There is a subsection for fats and carbohydrates. Under the fat content, you will see how many grams come specifically from saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. This section will be important for those looking to minimize risk of coronary artery disease. Saturated fat consumption tends to increase LDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol has a causal link to coronary atherosclerosis.
In the carbohydrate section, you will find total carbohydrates, fiber, sugars, and added sugars. Only 5% of people get enough fiber in their diet, and the CDC recommends that most Americans should be reducing added sugar intake, so most of us should be paying attention to this section.
If you are looking to build muscle, you will want to check the nutrition label to make sure it has adequate protein. If this sounds like a goal of yours, check out my article on using nutrition to maximize muscle growth.
It is generally recommended that you should consume at least 0.8g/kg of bodyweight per day, but I personally recommend aiming for 1.2-1.6g/kg. Instead of making you do math, you can refer to the chart below to find your protein target for your bodyweight.
Vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium are listed under the micronutrients section. If you are deficient in any of these, it would be wise to start paying attention to this section. For example, most Americans do not get enough potassium, and you might be shocked at how challenging it is to get enough. A banana, famously known for being a higher potassium food, only provides 8% of the recommended daily value of potassium.
Percent Daily Value (%DV)
The ‘Percent Daily Value" section lists the average nutrient consumption needed for good health as determined by the FDA. The percentage is based on the assumption that you are consuming 2,000 calories per day. The %DV is the only information on the label that is subjective, so you may have to adjust these values if your energy needs are significantly higher or lower than 2,000 calories per day. Also, some people may have different micronutrient needs even if they have similar caloric intake. Your actual %DV might be very different than what is listed on the nutrition label.
Caveats to nutrition labels
The FDA allows up to a 20% margin of error on nutrition labels, meaning your something listed as 300 calories could range from 240-360 calories. Again, this is up to 20%.
The FDA also has multiple rules on rounding numbers for nutrition labels. If a product has between 2 and 5 servings per container, the label will round to the nearest half serving. Above 5 servings per container, the label will round to the nearest whole serving.
Also, if a serving has fewer than 0.5 grams of any macronutrient, the label will round down to zero. This can be very misleading. Below is a picture of a nutrition label for Pam Cooking Spray.
Because of rounding rules, cooking sprays are able to claim that they have 0 calories per serving… which is not the case. Cooking spray is almost pure fat, which has 9 calories per gram.
As stated in the serving information, these products spray about 1 gram per second, meaning it is also about 9 calories per second. I would be shocked if anyone actually uses cooking spray for one-fourth of a second.
If you don’t have a background in nutrition and don’t already look at your nutrition labels, I recommend you start. It is not something to obsess over, but you should know what is in your food.