How to read a Nutrition Facts label

The Nutrition Facts label packs a lot into a small box, and a few orientation points make it much easier to read. This article is a general guide to what each part of the U.S. label means. It doesn't tell anyone what to eat or recommend any product — it's about reading the label itself.

Key points

• Every number on the label is per serving, so start with the serving size.
• Calories and % Daily Value give a quick sense of a food's contribution.
• As a rule of thumb on % Daily Value, 5% or less is low and 20% or more is high.
• Added Sugars and Sodium are two lines many people look for specifically.

Start with the serving size

At the top, the label shows the serving size and how many servings are in the package. Everything below — calories, grams, and percentages — refers to one serving. If a package holds three servings and you eat the whole thing, the numbers triple. Checking this first keeps the rest in context.

Calories

Calories tell you how much energy one serving provides. The figure is neutral information — it doesn't make a food "good" or "bad," and how it fits depends on the rest of someone's day.

% Daily Value, and the 5/20 rule of thumb

The "% Daily Value" column shows how much a nutrient in one serving contributes to a general 2,000-calorie reference diet. A widely used shortcut: about 5% DV or less is low in that nutrient, and 20% DV or more is high. That makes it easy to scan whether a serving is a little or a lot of something, without doing any math.

Added Sugars

Under "Total Sugars," the label breaks out "Added Sugars" — sugars added during processing, shown separately from those naturally present in foods like fruit or milk. It's listed in grams with its own % Daily Value.

Sodium

Sodium is listed in milligrams with a % Daily Value, and the same 5/20 rule of thumb applies. It's one of the lines people watch when comparing similar packaged foods.

What the label is for

The label is a standardized tool for comparing foods and understanding what's in a serving. It isn't a personalized plan — how any of it applies to an individual is a question for that person and, where helpful, a registered dietitian or other professional.