Level A Healthy Eating Name: _______________________

Food Labels
Foods that come in boxes, cans and packages have labels. Food labels contain a lot of
information about the food. It has the product name, product claims, an ingredient
list, and a nutrition facts table. You should read the labels before you buy packaged
foods. Knowing how to read food labels will help you to make better food choices to
stay healthy.

Product Name
The front of the food package usually has an attractive label with the product name.
They might use names which make the product sound delicious, healthy, or fun.

Product Claims
There can be some enticing claims on the front label too. The product claims will tell
you about the health benefits. They use words like “light”, “low fat”, or “no sugars”.

Ingredient List
The ingredient list shows all of the ingredients in a packaged food. The ingredients
are listed in order from the most to the least amount in weight. The ingredient with
the largest amount is listed first, while the ingredient with the lowest amount is listed
last. Ingredients with real food names like “tomatoes” and “oats”, are healthier than
names that are hard to understand like “fructose” and “monosodium glutamate”.

Nutrition Facts Table

The nutrition facts table shows the amount of calories and nutrients that the product
contains in one serving.

© School Cube P. 1A
Level A Healthy Eating Name: _______________________

Nutrition Facts Table

The Nutrition Facts Table tells you the amount of calories and nutrients that are in a
serving of the product. You will only see a nutrition facts table in packaged foods. You
will not see a nutrition facts table on fresh fruits and vegetables, or raw meats, fish
and chicken. You will not find nutrition facts tables on restaurant or bakery foods.
Products won’t have a nutrition facts table if the food does not have many nutrients,
like vinegar, spices, and coffee.
Serving Size Nutrition Facts
Per 5 crackers (16g)

Calories Amount
% Daily
Value

Nutrients
Calories 80
Serving Size
The amount of food in one serving size is written at Fat 5g 7%
the top of the Nutrition Facts Table. The amount of
Saturated fat 1g 5%
calories and nutrients which are listed is based on one
serving size. It’s important to pay attention to the Trans fat 0g 0%
serving size. If 2 cookies have 15 grams of sugars, 4
cookies would have 30 grams of sugars. Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Calories Sodium 105mg 4%

Calories are the amount of energy in food. Food gives
Carbohydrate 10g 3%
you energy to move and do work. If you eat more
calories than your body uses, you will gain weight. If Fibre 0g 0%
you eat fewer calories than your body uses, you will
lose weight. Sugars 1g 0%

Nutrients Protein 1g 0%
The list includes the 13 core nutrients: fat, saturated
Vitamin A 0%
fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre,
sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. Vitamin C 0%
This information will help you avoid the unhealthy
parts like trans fats and saturated fats, and help you Calcium 2%
take enough of the parts you need like calcium and
vitamin C. Iron 2%

The amounts are shown in weight (g/mg), and in %

daily value. The % daily value is the percentage of the
amount you would need in one day. For example 15%
daily value of fat, means that one serving of the food
will give you 15% of the of fat you need in one day.

© School Cube P. 3A