Key takeaways
- Start with the serving size. Every number on the label, including calories, is for one serving, and a package often holds more than one.
- The FDA says a food with 5% Daily Value (%DV) or less of a nutrient per serving is low in it, and 20% DV or more is high.
- The FDA suggests getting less saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, and more fibre, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium.
- The label helps you compare foods and make choices. It isn’t personal medical advice.
This article is general health information based on FDA guidance, not medical or dietary advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian about your own needs.
Why the label is worth reading
The FDA says the Nutrition Facts label is meant to help you “make quick, informed food decisions” when choosing a healthy diet. It looks the same on most packaged foods and drinks, so once you know how to read one, you can read them all. The FDA walks through the label in four parts.
1. Start with the serving information
Look first at “servings per container” and the serving size. The FDA says serving sizes are standardised so you can compare similar foods, and they reflect “the amount that people typically eat or drink. It is not a recommendation of how much you should eat or drink.”
All the numbers on the label are for one serving. The FDA’s example is a frozen lasagna with a serving size of 1 cup: 280 calories, 9 g of total fat and 850 mg of sodium. If you eat 2 cups, that is two servings, so you double everything: 560 calories and 1,700 mg of sodium. The package in the example holds four servings, so eating all of it would be 1,120 calories.
2. Check the calories
Calories measure the energy you get from a serving. The FDA says to balance the calories you eat and drink with the calories your body uses. It uses 2,000 calories a day “as a general guide for nutrition advice,” but your needs may be higher or lower depending on your age, sex, height, weight and activity. The FDA points to MyPlate (myplate.gov) to estimate your own.
3. Look at the nutrients
The FDA divides the key nutrients into two groups.
Nutrients to get less of: saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. The FDA says Americans generally consume too much of them. Too much saturated fat and sodium is associated with a higher risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Diets high in added sugars can make it hard to get important nutrients while staying within calorie limits.
Nutrients to get more of: dietary fibre, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. The FDA says Americans generally don’t get enough of them. It says diets higher in fibre can help with things like bowel movements and blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and that diets higher in vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium can reduce the risk of conditions such as osteoporosis, anemia and high blood pressure.
Total sugars vs added sugars: Total sugars include sugars found naturally in foods like milk and fruit. Added sugars are sugars added during processing, plus sweeteners, syrups, honey and concentrated juices. The word “includes” before added sugars means they’re already counted in the total. The FDA’s yogurt example: 7 g of added sugars and 8 g of natural sugars make 15 g of total sugars.
4. Use the % Daily Value
The %DV shows how much one serving of a food contributes to a whole day’s diet for that nutrient. You don’t have to do any maths. The FDA’s quick guide:
- 5% DV or less per serving is low.
- 20% DV or more per serving is high.
For nutrients to get less of, aim lower. For nutrients to get more of, aim higher. In the lasagna example, sodium is 37% DV, which is high. Two servings would be 74% of a day’s sodium.
The FDA also gives the Daily Values behind the percentages, based on a 2,000-calorie diet:
| Nutrient | Daily Value | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Saturated fat | 20 g | Less than |
| Sodium | 2,300 mg | Less than |
| Added sugars | 50 g | Less than |
| Dietary fibre | 28 g | At least |
| Vitamin D | 20 mcg | At least |
| Calcium | 1,300 mg | At least |
| Iron | 18 mg | At least |
| Potassium | 4,700 mg | At least |
Using the label to compare foods
The FDA suggests comparing %DV between similar products, as long as the serving sizes match, and choosing the one that is higher in the nutrients you want more of and lower in the ones you want less of. It also notes that you don’t have to give up a favourite food: you can balance a food that’s high in saturated fat with foods low in it at other times of the day.
Nutrients with no %DV
Some nutrients show no %DV. The FDA explains why:
- Trans fat: experts couldn’t set a reference value. Diets higher in trans fat are linked to higher LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and a higher risk of heart disease, and the FDA says most uses of artificial trans fat in the US food supply have been phased out as of 2018.
- Total sugars: no recommended daily total has been set.
- Protein: a %DV appears only when a protein claim is made on the label, or for products meant for infants and children under 4. The FDA says protein intake isn’t a public health concern for most Americans over 4.
Labels that look different
Some packages use a “dual-column” label with figures per serving and per package. This is for items that could be eaten in one sitting or several, so you can see the numbers for the whole package. The FDA also describes a single-ingredient sugar label and other formats.
For more healthy-eating ideas from US health agencies, see our guide to healthy habits.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look at first on a label? The serving size and the number of servings per container, says the FDA, because everything else depends on them.
What counts as a lot of a nutrient? 20% DV or more per serving is high, and 5% DV or less is low.
What’s the difference between total and added sugars? Total sugars include natural sugars, and added sugars are those put in during processing or as sweeteners. Added sugars are counted inside the total.
Is 2,000 calories right for me? It’s only a general guide, according to the FDA. Your needs depend on your age, sex, size and activity.
Information checked on: October 31, 2026. Guidance changes, so check the FDA’s current pages.
Sources
- FDA, How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label (content current as of March 5, 2024)
Health note: this article is for general information and is not medical advice. Speak to a qualified health professional about your own situation.