Understanding Nutrition Facts Labels
Target Audience: Job Center clients who participate in Job Club workshops
NOTE: Several of the activities in this lesson may also be appropriate for other audiences such
as teens, parents of young children, or older adults.
Time Allotted: Approximately 45 minutes (including ANCHOR, ADD activity and pre/post
evaluation). Allow more time if additional activities are used.
Overall Lesson Objectives:




Identify the items that comprise a Nutrition Facts label including serving size, calories,
and nutrients.
Compare Nutrition Facts labels of various food package examples and identify if they are
“high” or “low” in specific nutrients.
Use servings sizes on Nutrition Facts labels to be aware of the volume of food and
calories in the amount of food they choose to consume.
Use Nutrition Facts labels to identify and select the food that is lower in fat and calories.
Materials List:












READ IT before you EAT IT! poster
Assortment of 10-15 snack food containers with Nutrition Facts labels (or at least one for
every participant) – place in a brown grocery bag
Cans with labels removed for ANCHOR activity
Labels that were removed from cans for ANCHOR activity
Copies of game cards for Nutrition Tic-Tac-Factos label reading game
Dried beans or marking pieces for game
Copies of Pre/Post “Reading Labels” WNEP Statewide Evaluation Tools
Copies of Label Logic – Get the Nutrition Facts handout
Copies of Label Logic – What’s in it for me? handout
White board or flip chart
Dry Erase Marker or Flip Chart Marker
Pencils
Activity Summary:
Pre-lesson Assessment
ANCHOR activity
ADD Activity – Label Logic – Get the Nutrition Facts activity
Optional Activities: Choose 1 or more
Nutrition Tic-Tac-Fact-os Label Reading game
Label Logic – What’s in it for me? activity
Post-Lesson Assessment
Background for Educator:
New food labels are designed to help consumers make more informed decisions about the
foods they choose to eat. They provide information that can help consumers to make food
1
choices that meet a certain dietary need or compare the nutritional value of one food with
another.
For FoodShare clients, purchasing foods at a low cost is important. Using Nutrition Facts
labeling information can help clients select healthier choices at a lower cost.
Evaluation:
Pre/Post Lesson Assessment Time Allotted: 5 minutes
The Label Logic lesson will use the “Reading Labels” WNEP statewide evaluation tool before
and after the lesson in order to assess the learner’s ability to use the Nutrition Facts label to
make a food choice. Instructions on how to use the evaluation tool, as well as the before/after
evaluation tools are available from the following website:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wnep/evaluate/stwevalproj/08_reading_labels_eval.doc
Content:
ANCHOR Activity – Mystery Cans Activity
Time allotted: 10 minutes
Activity included with permission from Gayle Coleman, WNEP Specialist
Overall objective of this ANCHOR activity:
Connect information found on food labels to learners’ lives by:
 Listing the kinds of information that can be found on food labels.
 Identifying what information they use on food labels.
Materials needed:
 Cans of a variety of foods with labels removed and mark the corresponding label (before
removing labels, be sure to mark cans so you know what they contain). For example,
but an A on one can and add an A on the back of the corresponding label.
 Labels from these cans
 White board or flip chart and marker
Doing the activity:
1. Put 1 or more cans of food (with labels removed) at each table where learners are sitting
or place them around the room if you prefer that learners move around the room.
2. Challenge learners to guess what food is in each can. Learners can pick up the cans
and shake them.
3. Have learners share their guesses and how they made their guesses.
4. Show learners the labels for the cans and ask them to match them to the cans.
5. Let learners know what food is in each can.
6. Ask learners what information they have seen on cans of food. Record responses on a
whiteboard or flip chart.
7. Ask learners what information they have used.
ADD Activity: Label Logic – Get the Nutrition Facts
Time Allotted: 30 minutes
Objective:
 Identify the items that comprise a Nutrition Facts label including serving size, calories,
and nutrients.
2
 Understand the “5-20” Rule and how it can be used to compare similar foods.
Materials needed:
 READ IT before you EAT IT! poster
 Assortment of 10-15 snack food containers with Nutrition Facts labels (or at least one for
every participant) – place in a brown grocery bag
 Copies of Label Logic – Get the Nutrition Facts handout
 Pencils
ADD - Doing the activity:
1. Take out the READ IT before you EAT IT! poster and display it prominently so all learners
can see the parts of the label. Pass out copies of the Label Logic – Get the Nutrition Facts
handout to each learner so they can follow along and make notes on their handout.
Use the poster to help learners discover what information is contained on a Nutrition
Facts label. Discuss the following parts and explain what each of them mean:
 Serving size – similar serving sizes for similar foods help consumers to compare
foods. The amount of calories and nutrients listed on the Nutrition Facts label is
based on one serving.

Servings in the package – this tells how many servings are in the given food
package. Sometimes we eat all the servings found in the package at one time.

Calories in a serving – tells the number of calories (or the amount of energy) in
one serving. If you were to eat two servings – you would get twice the amount of
calories given.

Nutrient amounts in a serving – use this information to get less of some nutrients,
and more of others.
 Nutrients to get less of: fat (especially saturated and trans fats),
cholesterol, and sodium. Eating too much of these can lead to health
problems.


Nutrients to get more of: fiber, vitamins A & C, calcium, and iron. Eating
enough of these nutrients is important for health and can decrease the
chance of getting some diseases.

Use the “5-20” Rule as a guide to compare nutrients in similar foods.

5% Daily Value (DV) or less is low – for nutrients you want to get
less of, choose foods with a low % DV.

20% Daily Value (DV) or more is high – for nutrients you want to
get more of, choose foods with a high % DV.
Percent Daily Values (% DV) – these percentages can show how the food fits
into your daily diet. Try to remember the “5-20” Rule when looking at % DV.
APPLY
2. Now have each learner select a food package from the grocery bag. Ask them to look at
their food package and locate the Nutrition Facts label. Have them look at the following
information:
3



Serving size – ask them to decide how much they would eat out of the food
package. Would it be less than one, one, two, or more servings? Will it matter if
you eat more or less than the serving amount on the label?
Calories – ask them to look at the calories in one serving. If they choose to eat
more or less of the food in the package, the total calories consumed may be
lower or higher, depending on the number of servings.
Using the “5-20” Rule, have them decide if their food is high or low in the different
nutrients.
3. Ask the learners how they might use the “5-20” Rule when selecting snacks, drinks, and
other foods?
Optional Activity 1: Nutrition Tic-Tac-Fact-os Label Reading Game
Time Allotted: 20 minutes
Objective:
 Provide a fun, interactive way for the learners to become more familiar with Nutrition
Facts labels and the information they contain.
Preparations:
 Before the lesson, make copies of the playing cards, using four different colors (the
cards are labeled 1-4 to help with this).
 There are four different playing cards so all participants will not have the same labels on
their card.
 You may choose to make a permanent set of game cards by copying masters onto card
stock or laminating copies of the game cards.
 Use dried beans or other markers to mark the squares.
Materials:
 Copies of game cards for Nutrition Tic-Tac-Factos label reading game
 Dried beans or marking pieces for game
Doing the activity:
1. Tell the group that you are going to make a statement about a product. Participants should
look for the label on their game card that contains the answer. Questions will all be related
to the Nutrition Facts label.
2. If they find the correct label, they should place a marker on their square. The first one with 3
markers in a row (across or down) is the winner.
Read the following clues:
ANSWER:
1 serving contains 0g of Fat and 3g Dietary Fiber
Apple
This dessert food contains 80 calories per serving
Gelatin Dessert
The fat in one serving of this food makes up 68%
Trail Mix
of your Daily Value
Using the “5-20” Rule, a serving of this food is high in Calcium
Fruit Bar
A serving of this food contains 2.5g of trans fat
Snack Crackers
1 bar contains 25% of the DV for saturated fat
Granola Bar
One serving contains 120 calories and 3.5g fat
Pudding
One serving contains 10g of fat
Snack Cake
Serving size is 10 twists
Pretzels
4
1 serving provides nearly 40% of the DV for iron and is low fat
Chex Mix
½ cup of this contains 10% of the DV for Total Fat
Choc. Ice Cream
A 1 oz. serving contains 11% of the DV for Total Fat
Chips
Optional Activity 2: Label Logic – What’s in it for me? Activity
Time Allotted: 20 minutes
Objective:
 To help the learners apply the information about Nutrition Facts labels in order to
calculate the amount of fat and calories in a given serving and determine which snack is
the more nutritious choice.
Materials:
 Pencils
 Copies of Label Logic – What’s in it for me? handout
Doing the activity:
1. Pass out the Label Logic – What’s in it for me? handouts to each of the learners.
2. Discuss how the Nutrition Facts label can help us compare foods and help us to make
healthier choices. Help the learners to calculate the information needed on the worksheet,
and ask them to answer the questions at the bottom.
Explain the following:
 Calculating the calories in your serving – determine the number of servings you
are consuming based on the information given. Multiply the number of servings
by the calories in 1 serving.
 Calculating the total fat in your serving – determine the number of servings you
are consuming based on the information given. Multiply the number of servings
by the total fat grams in 1 serving.
Summarize:
Mention that they can use the calculation method, or simply compare the percent daily
values of the foods in order to determine which snack might be a healthier choice. Using
Nutrition Facts labels will allow them to locate foods that might be more nutritious and
enable them to do more comparison shopping in order to find the healthier choices at a
lower cost.
Resources:
United States Department of Agriculture. (2004). How to understand and use the Nutrition Facts
label. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/foodlab.pdf#search=%22nutrition%20facts%20label%
20reading%22
READ IT before you EAT IT! Poster available in PDF download from
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/resources/read_it.pdf
Label Logic Lesson was developed by Cara Cross, WNEP Coordinator –
Marquette/Waushara Counties
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
Get the Nutrition Facts!
Food labels tell you a lot about food. They don’t suggest what foods to eat – that’s your
own decision. But using food labels can help you make choices about the food you eat.
What’s the point?
Nutrition Facts labels provide nutrition information in an easy-to-read format, but the
label can be overwhelming with its abundance of information. Don’t try to use all the
information at once. Instead, choose a target area (ex. Total fat) and make a choice
based on that information. The Nutrition Facts label is meant to serve as a guide in
order to help you make healthier food choices.
So- what’s on a Nutrition Facts label?
Check out the sample label below to learn more about the information found on a
Nutrition Facts label.
Serving size – similar
serving sizes for similar
foods helps consumers to
compare foods. The amount
of calories and nutrients
listed on Nutrition Facts is
based on one serving.
This is the total number of
calories found in 1 serving.
The nutrients listed on
this part of the label are
important to your health.
You should eat less of
some nutrients, like fat,
cholesterol, and sodium,
and more of other
nutrients like fiber and
calcium.
Percent Daily Values are
based on recommended
intakes when eating 2000
calories per day. Percent
Daily Values are also
listed for persons eating
2,500 calories per day.
The % Daily Value can
be used to compare
foods and see how the
food fits into your overall
daily diet.
These numbers can help
you avoid eating too much
fat, saturated fat, trans fat,
cholesterol, and sodium.
These numbers can help
you get enough dietary
fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C,
calcium, and iron.
If the % Daily Value for a
nutrient is 5% or less, that
means the food is low in
that nutrient.
If the % Daily Value is 20%
or more, that means the
food is high in that nutrient.
What’s in it for me?
Just looking at a Nutrition Facts label doesn’t always tell us what we’re actually eating.
All amounts listed on the label are for one serving – but what if you eat two –or even the
whole package! A few simple calculations will help you figure out how many calories or
grams of fat are in the servings that you actually consume.
Compare these snack food Nutrition Facts Labels and fill in the information below.
Then select which snack you would choose.
Serving Size ¼ cup
Servings Per Container 45
Your serving: 20 twists
Your serving: 1 apple
Your serving: 1/2 cup Trail Mix
Serving Size on label:
Serving Size on label:
Serving Size on label:
Calories per serving:
Calories per serving:
Calories per serving:
Total Fat grams per serving:
Total Fat grams per serving:
Total Fat grams per serving:
Calories in your serving:
Calories in your serving:
Calories in your serving:
Total Fat grams in your serving:
Total Fat grams in your serving:
Total Fat grams in your serving:
Based on your servings:
Which snack is the lowest in Total Fat?
Which snack is the lowest in Saturated Fat?
Which snack is the lowest in calories?
Which snack would you choose?
ANSWER KEY
What’s in it for me?
Just looking at a Nutrition Facts label doesn’t always tell us what we’re actually eating.
All amounts listed on the label are for one serving – but what if you eat two –or even the
whole package! A few simple calculations will help you figure out how many calories or
grams of fat are in the servings that you actually consume.
Compare these snack food Nutrition Facts Labels and fill in the information below.
Then select which snack you would choose.
Serving Size ¼ cup
Servings Per Container 45
Your serving: 20 twists
Your serving: 1/2 cup Trail Mix
Serving Size on label:
Serving Size on label:
Serving Size on label:
1 apple
10 twists
Calories per serving:
Your serving: 1 apple
228
Calories per serving:
¼ cup
65
Calories per serving:
150
Total Fat grams per serving:
2
Total Fat grams per serving:
0
Total Fat grams per serving:
9
Calories in your serving:
456
Calories in your serving:
65
Calories in your serving:
300
Total Fat grams in your serving:
4
Total Fat grams in your serving:
0
Total Fat grams in your serving:
Based on your servings:
Which snack is the lowest in Total Fat?
Apple
Which snack is the lowest in Saturated Fat?
Apple or Twists
Which snack is the lowest in calories?
Apple
Which snack would you choose?
Up to individual – use for discussion
18