Label Ease
An easy way to decide
if a food is nutritious or not
using the food label.
Two goals to have
when choosing food:
• Make sure the
food contains
good nutrients
you need for
good health.
• Make sure the
food we eat
doesn’t have too
much fat,
Food labels give you a fast way to
decide if a food is healthy.
• Most families want to
eat healthy, but they
don’t want it to take a
lot of time or energy.
All foods have Pluses and Minuses
• Pork Chops
 Contain a good source of protein, niacin, thymine,
and riboflavin.
– Are high in fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat.
• Whole Grain Bread
 Are low in fat, cholesterol as well as being high in
fiber.
– Contain only small amounts of nutrients listed on the
food label.
What Information
do you look at on a food label?
• Most people only focus on 1 or 2 parts of
the food label.
– Calories or Fat Content
There are…
Valuable facts on a
food label and you
should choose a
food based on the
entire label.
Can you guess which food has this
information on its food label?
You Guessed it—Pop!
• Pop has 0 Fat, 0
Cholesterol, and only
1% sodium.
• Pop also has no
vitamins and the
sugar calories is high!
Divide the label into 3 Sections
These
nutrients are
the most
likely to keep
us healthy,
but we have
low amounts
of them in
our diet.
Percents are based on a
2000 calorie diet. Lower
amounts of these.
Like a tag on
a mattress—
read and
ignore
Parts of the food label.
5 Finger Test
• This is a simple system for choosing
food to make informed choices
• The best thing about this system is that
you only need 5 fingers.
• Remember—All labels are based on a
2000 calorie diet (that’s the amount of calories
and average adult should eat each day)
Magic Number in Labels
• If the food has 10% or
more (Vitamin A, C,
Calcium, Iron, Protein
and Fiber) it is a good
source of that nutrient.
Put 1 finger up for each nutrient on
the middle of the label that has 10%
or more.
Which Nutrients are low
in our Diet?
• Vitamin A—This vitamin helps your night
vision
• Vitamin C—This vitamin helps cuts and
bruises heal as well as fighting the
common cold.
• Calcium--This nutrient builds strong bones
and teeth
• Iron—This mineral gives you healthy
blood.
Protein and Fiber
• Sometimes Protein and Fiber are
listed in grams.
• 5 grams or more of Protein and Fiber is
good!
• Put 1 finger up if the food has 10% or
more of protein and fiber—or 5 grams or
more.
Confusing Sugars
• The sugar listed on the label includes
natural sugars like lactose in milk or the
natural sugars in fruit—Good sugars!
• Because good sugars are included with
bad sugars, we ignore the sugar on the
label of healthy food because it is too
difficult to tell the difference.
Putting Fingers Down
• Look at the Fat and Calories, we call these
excesses.
• Choose to watch either Fat or Calories, not both.
• When watching fat, put 1 finger down if the fat
content is 10% or more.
• When watching calories, put 1 finger down if the
calories are 200 or more.
• The calories section on the food label is the only
place where the magic number 10 doesn’t apply.
How many Fingers make a Food
Nutritious?
• If you have any fingers
standing—then the food
is nutritious.
• If you have no fingers
standing then the food is
not nutritious.
• You will find that things
you think are healthy
really aren’t when you
read the label. (Check
granola bars and cheese)