Foundations of Nutrition: Five Things Students Need to Know to Read the Food Label
California Healthy Kids Resource Center (C.H.K.R.C.)
Partner: Californi
California Department of
Education, Nutri
Nutrition Ser
Serv
vices Di
Divis
visiion
Welcome to the Foundations of Nutrition: Five Things Students Need to Know
to Read the Food Label training. This training was developed with funding from
the Network for a Healthy California and adapted from a module developed in
collaboration with the California Department of Education Nutrition Services
Division. It will take about 30 minutes to complete, so let's get going!
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Training Objectives
After this training you will be able to:
• Identify the main components of the food label.
• Use the food label to choose foods that
contribute to a healthy diet.
• Access lessons and resources to support
students in making healthy food choices.
Let’s start with the objectives for the training. By the end of this training you
will be able to identify the main components of the Nutrition Facts label, use
these components to choose healthy foods, and access resources to use the
Nutrition Facts label in your classroom.
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What Would You Choose?
Many things play a role in our decisions to purchase foods. Maybe it’s the
advertising on the bottle that says the product has 100 percent vitamin C,
maybe it’s the item’s popularity (think about how popular energy drinks have
become), or maybe it’s because you are looking for a caffeine pick-me-up.
Your students have the same considerations. How do you help them make a
nutritious choice? Teaching students about the Nutrition Facts label gets them
beyond advertising to make an informed, healthy decision.
Although the food label initially looks daunting, you really only need to consider
five key components to figure out if the food you are about to eat is healthy.
This training will identify these key components and illustrate the versatile
ways you can use the food label with your students.
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Reading the Food Label is Easier Than
You Think!
Sugars 5g
1. Check serving size
2. Glance at calories
3. Determine what
nutrients to eat less of
4. Concentrate on
nutrients you should
eat more of
5. Review the
ingredients list
Reading the food label is easier than you might think. To start, use these five
simple steps. First check the serving size, highlighted in green. Next, glance at
calories, then review the nutrients you should eat less of, including fat,
cholesterol, sugars, and sodium shown in the yellow sections. The fourth step
is to concentrate on the nutrients that you should eat more of, including fiber,
vitamins, and minerals, shown in the blue sections. Finally, review the list of
ingredients. To make quick snack decisions, we’ll show you how to use the
Percent Daily Value, highlighted in pink, to make a healthy choice every time.
Let’s start with serving size.
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Step 1: Serving Size and Servings per
Container
• Start with serving size
and number of
servings per container
at the top of the label
• Use the servings per
container to calculate
the amount of calories
and nutrients per
package
First, check the Nutrition Facts section of the food label for the serving size
and number of servings in the container, these provide very important
information. Serving size may be listed by volume, weight, or number of pieces
(for example, as 1 cup, 8 ounces, or 11 chips). Often, a package seems like it
would be a single serving, such as a bottle of juice or bag of chips, but
surprisingly there could be two or more servings in the package. If you eat or
drink the entire package, you would get more of any vitamins and minerals in
the food, but you would also get more calories, sugar, sodium, and fat. For
example, this drink may have the number of calories listed as 150, however
the number of servings per container is two and a half. Drinking the whole can
increases the total calories to 375 and doubles other nutrients as well. To
prevent these extra surprises, always start at serving size and servings per
container to accurately calculate calories and nutrients and to make a healthy
decision.
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Step 2: Calories
• Check the number of
calories per serving
• Multiply by the
number of servings to
find the total calories
per container
Next, read the number of calories per serving. When comparing products,
remember to multiply the calories by the number of servings to determine how
many calories are really included in the container. In this example there are
250 calories per serving and two servings per container, which means that
consuming a full container of this item would total 500 calories. To help keep
calories in balance, also consider the number of calories you need each day.
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Step 2: Calories Finding Calorie
Recommendations
• Calories are energy
from food
• Consider your calorie
recommendations
Gender
Height
Weight
Age
Exercise
Female
5 feet
3 inches
130 lbs.
25
30 min
= 2,000
calories
a day
A calorie is a way of measuring how much energy food provides to our bodies.
One way to balance calorie intake for the day is to find your daily calorie
recommendation. The amount of calories a person needs is based on age,
gender, height, weight, and level of activity. For example, a 2,000 calorie
intake is recommended for a woman who is 5 feet and 3 inches tall, 130
pounds, twenty-five years old, and who exercises about 30 minutes a day. To
better compare food labels and the amount of energy a food contributes to
your total needs, visit the MyPlate Web site to get your daily calorie
recommendations. You can access the MyPlate Web site from the resources
section at the end of this training.
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Step 2: Calories Make Nutrient-Dense
Choices
Choose the most bang for your buck
Fruit Drink
(16 oz)
Nutrients
100% Orange
Juice (16 oz)
220
Calories
220
Total Fat
60 grams
Sugars
48 grams
Protein
4 grams
Potassium
900 mg
(26%)
Vitamin C
120 mcg
(200%)
Vitamin A
728 IU
(18%)
Folate
120 mcg
(30%)
When considering calories, choose foods with the most bang for the buck. The
fruit drink and 100 percent orange juice on this slide have the same number of
calories, 220. However, the 100 percent orange juice packs many more
nutrients, such as potassium, vitamin C, vitamin A, and folate. Choosing foods
based on calories and nutrients (nutrient-dense foods) promotes better health
and may prevent excess weight gain. The Nutrition Facts label is an important
tool for making choices that build a healthy plate aligned with the 2010 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate recommendations. You can access
more about these guidance documents in the resources section following this
training.
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Step 3: Limit These Nutrients
• Limit fat, cholesterol,
and sodium
• Excessive amounts of
these nutrients can be
harmful to your health
• Use the footnote for a
reminder
In step three, check the Nutrition Facts label for the amount of fat, cholesterol,
and sodium in the food you are about to choose. Health experts recommend
limiting your intake of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
Using the food label to cut back on these nutrients supports the 2010 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans recommendations and may reduce your risk of
chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and obesity.
The Nutrition Facts label is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Use the footnote on
the bottom of the label as a quick reference to compare the grams of total fat
and other nutrients in the product to the amount recommended per day. For
example, an individual with a recommended 2,000 calorie intake should eat
less than 65 grams of fat and less than 20 grams of saturated fat. Remember
that everyone is different and has different calorie needs and nutrient
requirements. Use the MyPlate Web site to check for recommendations that fit
your needs.
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Step 4: Increase These Nutrients
• Eat more foods that
are high in fiber,
vitamins, and minerals
• These nutrients can
help reduce the risk of
some heart disease,
cancer, diabetes, and
obesity
Now consider the blue section of the Nutrition Facts label. This is where
information on fiber, vitamins, and minerals is listed. This section is important
to read and understand because research shows that most Americans do not
get enough of these nutrients in their diets. Eating more of these nutrients can
improve your health and help reduce the risk of some diseases and conditions.
Getting enough calcium, for example, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis or
weak bones. Eating a diet high in fiber promotes healthy bowel function.
Additionally, a diet rich in vitamin C and iron may help to prevent infection and
anemia (iron deficiency).
Remember, you can use the Nutrition Facts label not only to help limit those
nutrients you want to cut back on but also to increase the ones you need to
consume in greater amounts.
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Nutrition Facts Label Challenge
Choose a Snack
String Cheese
Servings per Container 1
Step 1 Check the Serving Size and
Servings per Container
Step 2 How many calories in each?
Step 3 How much fat and sodium?
Step 4 How much of select vitamins
and minerals?
Cheese Puffs
Servings per Container 1
Let’s put these steps together and practice making a healthy choice.
The student in the picture is looking for a snack. He checks the labels of string
cheese and cheese puffs. He looks at the serving size and servings per
container, calories, total fat, and sodium for each food product. Considering
nutrient density, in other words, the most bang for your buck, which is the best
snack choice?
The best choice would be the string cheese. The serving size and servings per
container are the same, however the calories are lower in the string cheese
and the cheese puffs have more fat and sodium. The string cheese also
delivers a good amount of calcium.
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Your Turn to Practice Using the
Nutrition Facts Label
Step 1
Check the Serving Size and
Servings per Container
Step 2
How many calories in each?
Step 3
How much fat and sodium?
Step 4
How much of select
vitamins and minerals?
Grab Bag of Chips
Trail Mix
Servings per Container 1
Servings per Container 1
3g
10%
16g
Now, you give it a try. Use the first four steps to compare the serving size and
servings per container, calories, total fat, sodium, vitamins, and minerals in
two more snacks. Which is a better choice, the grab bag of chips or the trail
mix?
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Answer
The grab bag of chips has
• More total calories
• More fat
• More sodium
• Both choices have vitamins
and minerals
The trail mix is a more nutritious choice.
Servin
g Size
2 oun
Servin
ces
gs Pe
r Con
tainer
1
Were you surprised at the differences? Which did you choose? Although the
grab bag of chips and the trail mix have the same number of servings per
container, the chips have 106 more calories, 8 grams more total fat, and four
times more sodium. There is some vitamin C in the chips, but there are other
foods with vitamin C that are lower in fat. The trail mix makes a healthier snack
choice overall.
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Teaching the Nutrition Facts Label
• Influences family members
• Develops health skills
• Helps students make
informed decisions
Many students are interested in their health and the health of their families.
You will find that many students have family members that are struggling with
diet-related diseases. Teaching your students to comprehend the Nutrition
Facts label can lead to your students teaching their families about healthy
eating. The EatFit and Power of Choice resources shown on this slide provide
ready-to-use lessons to teach middle school students the steps for reading
labels. These activities provide instruction and practice to develop students’
health and nutrition skills, such as accessing valid information and making
informed decisions. The resources section at the end of the training includes
these resources and others for elementary and high school students.
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Step 5: List of Ingredients
• Listed by weight
• Whole, natural ingredients should be listed first
• Can be used for disease prevention and food
allergy awareness
The fifth step is to review the package’s ingredients list. Ingredients are listed
in order by weight, from most to least. In this food label, whole grain rolled oats
are listed first. This could be a healthy choice because whole grains are high in
fiber, vitamins, and minerals. If enriched flour was listed first, there would be
less fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Another reason for listing ingredients on the food label is to help families and
consumers avoid reactions due to food allergies. Always consider the list of
ingredients when choosing a healthy food item. It will tell you a lot.
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Use the Ingredients List to Find Whole
Grains
• MyPlate recommends
to make half of your
grains whole grains.
• Use the ingredients
list to identify whole
grain foods.
The ingredients list can be especially helpful for finding whole-grain options.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate recommend making
half of your grain choices come from whole grains.
How do you find whole-grain products? Use the food label to check the first
three ingredients on the ingredients list. If it says 100 percent whole wheat,
whole oats, or whole grain, you know you are getting the nutrient and fiber
benefits of a whole-grain product. Food packaging can be misleading; even
when the package advertises that it is whole wheat it may not be 100 percent
whole wheat, so check the ingredients list to more accurately compare
products.
Select the Whole Grain Comparison handout link and review the ingredients
lists for some common food products. How many of the choices shown in the
handout are whole grain?
Did you find a total of five whole-grain options on the handout?
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A Guide to Percent Daily Value
The Five and Twenty Rule (5 & 20)
5 percent or less is LOW
20 percent or more is HIGH
Now that we know the five steps to reading food labels, there is one more tool
to consider when making a healthy eating decision. On the right hand side of
the Nutrition Facts label is a column for Percent Daily Value. It helps you
interpret the numbers (grams and milligrams) by putting them all on the same
scale, from 0 to 100 percent of the Daily Value. The percent of each nutrient is
based on the daily requirements for that nutrient.
Using the five and twenty rule as a guide will help simplify comparing foods
and making healthy decisions. The rule is that foods that have 5 percent or
less of a nutrient are low in that nutrient. Foods that have 20 percent or more
of a nutrient are high in that nutrient. For example, this label shows that the
iron content per serving is low and the calcium content is high.
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A Closer Look at the Five
and Twenty Rule
Think About Your Cereal
• Check the Percent Daily Value
• Use the five and twenty rule
• Which choice is a good source of fiber?
Cereal 1
Cereal 2
Let’s look at breakfast cereal as an example. You would want to find a
breakfast cereal that has a good amount of fiber in order to reach your daily
recommendation. How do these cereals compare to the daily fiber
recommendations?
Check the labels of these two cereals. Cereal one is a popular honey oat
cereal and cereal two is a raisin and flake cereal. Which has the highest
Percent Daily Value of fiber? Cereal two has seven grams of fiber per serving
which is 26 percent of the daily fiber recommendation. When you look at the
label, aim for a high percent for fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron to
help meet the daily recommended amounts. Although cereal two has more
sugar, most is probably from natural sugar from the raisins. This is another
good reason to consider the ingredients list. The ingredients list can tell you if
the source of sugar is from added sugars or from the raisins.
Now, think about your favorite hamburger from a local fast-food restaurant.
That burger may have 60 percent of your daily recommendation for fat. Using
the five and twenty rule, would this be a healthy choice?
Not when you consider the Percent Daily Value. You do not want just one
meal to be over half of the daily recommended amount of fat. Look for a lower
percent for nutrients that we need to limit, such as fat, saturated fat, and
sodium.
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Your Turn to Practice the
Five and Twenty Rule
Which is the healthiest fundraising Item?
Caramel
Corn
Chocolate Bar
Brownies
Berry
Smoothies
Let’s try the five and twenty rule to plan for a healthy fundraising event. You
started an after school outdoor nature troop. Students want to sell snacks to
raise money for the troop. Which of these four snack choices would make the
healthiest sales item: the brownie, chocolate bar, caramel corn, or berry
smoothie?
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Healthier Fundraising Items
Which is the healthiest fundraising Item?
Caramel
Corn
Chocolate Bar
Brownies
Berry
Smoothies
Most of these choices are common school day and school club fundraising
items. Using the five and twenty rule, you and your students discover that the
chocolate bar and brownies have the highest grams of fat and saturated fat,
with the chocolate bar delivering more than 30 percent of the Percent Daily
Value for saturated fat.
Although the caramel corn and berry smoothie are lower in fat and saturated
fat, the berry smoothie is the best choice. It not only has lower Percent Daily
Values of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium, it also has over 20 percent of the
daily value for vitamin C.
You can support your school and after school program fundraising efforts by
involving the students in checking the labels of potential sales items and
choosing healthier options. Check the resources section for other fun and
creative fundraising ideas.
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Interpreting Health Claims
• Nutrient Claim
• Health Claim
• Structure and
Function Claim
Whole grain, low-fat, light, and sodium-free are only some of the health claims
included on food packaging. So how can you be a smart shopper? First, be sure to
check the health claim against the food label.
Next, consider if it is an allowable claim. The United States Food and Drug
Administration (F.D.A.) oversees food labeling and allows companies to use three
types of claims.
Nutrient Claims are claims that describe the amount of a nutrient in the food. For
example, to use the claim good source, a food must contain 10 to 19 percent of the
Daily Value. A food labeled as light must have fewer calories or less fat compared
with a representative sample of the same food.
Health claims establish a connection between the nutrient in the food and a disease
or health problem. Health claims require a high level of scientific proof and must be
approved by the F.D.A. A sample health claim is: 3 grams of soluble fiber from
oatmeal daily in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of
heart disease. This cereal has 2 grams of soluble fiber per serving.
Structure and function claims describe the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient
and its relationship to normal human structure or function. An example is: calcium
builds strong bones. The claim may describe how a nutrient or dietary ingredient
acts to maintain structure or function, for example: antioxidants maintain cell
integrity.
There are many more examples of food label claims and how the F.D.A. approves
them in the resources section list of Web sites.
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Think About Your Drink Activity
• Maximize nutrients.
• Keep sugar low.
• Keep caffeine low.
Let’s pull all the steps together. At the convenience store, Alex is looking for a
cold drink before he heads home. He is considering chocolate milk or an
energy drink that his friends tell him is great. Help him use the food label to
maximize the nutrients and to keep his sugar and caffeine low.
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Putting the Food Label Pieces
Together
Ingredients:
Low-fat milk, sugar, cocoa,
starch, dextrose, salt,
vanilla, vitamin A and
vitamin D added.
Ingredients: High-fructose
corn syrup, water, artificial
color, artificial flavor,
guarana, caffeine, ginseng.
These are examples of food labels from the drink choices that Alex is
considering. Which would you recommend to Alex?
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Think About Your Drink Answer
1. Serving size
2. Know your calorie
recommendations
3. Limit sugar
4. Increase vitamins and
minerals
5. Check ingredients and
use the five and twenty
rule to compare products
After checking all the components of the food label, the chocolate milk is the
best match for Alex’s goal of limiting sugar and caffeine and is a healthier
recommendation. He uses the Nutrition Facts label to discover that the drinks
have a similar amount of calories per serving and both contain sugar. The
energy drink has two and half servings per container and would give Alex 300
calories and over 100 grams of sugar for the container. That is equal to 25
teaspoons of sugar! In addition, the milk contains a greater variety of vitamins
and minerals and doesn’t include extra caffeine as is listed on the ingredients
list of the energy drink. Guarana and ginseng are also listed on the energy
drink ingredients list. Like caffeine, these herbs are stimulants; choosing milk
will help Alex avoid the effects of these herbs and the caffeine.
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Resources to Teach Your Students
• The parts of the Nutrition
Facts label
• Key sections
• How to compare
• Practice decision-making
skills
• Use a variety of
situations and examples
In review, show students that using food labels is not as hard as they may
think and it can help them make informed comparisons and choices when
shopping for food.
When teaching the five steps to reading the food label, emphasize the
importance of checking the serving size and servings per container sections of
the Nutrition Facts label. Help students appreciate the health benefits of
limiting total grams of fat, cholesterol, and sodium and reaching the
recommended amounts of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Teaching youths to read the Nutrition Facts label develops accessing valid
information skills. Use resources like Nutrition to Grow On, CATCH,
Empowering Youth, and others listed in the resources section of this training to
give students lots of practice using the key sections of the food label to
compare their favorite foods and beverages. Students will make some
shocking discoveries and be better able to use the food label and the five and
twenty rule to make healthier decisions. Continue to encourage students to
use their food label knowledge and skills in a variety of situations to create a
healthy, well-balanced diet.
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Integrating Lessons with the
Nutrition Facts Label
• Practice mathematics calculations.
• Practice investigative science skills.
• Reinforce reading functional text.
Reading food labels may be used in other subject areas to make learning fun
and increase comprehension. Encourage students to bring in food labels from
foods that they commonly eat or drink. Use the label to practice mathematics
skills and connect mathematics to real-life applications. Many foods have
several servings in the container which allows for multiplication practice. Use
the Percent Daily Value to practice adding or subtracting percentages. For
upper-grade students, the food label can even be used for algebra equations
and statistics.
Additionally, the label can be used in language arts to practice reading and
interpreting functional text or text that is used to inform the consumer.
Use the label to reinforce science investigation skills. For example, students
can explore compounds in processed foods, such as sugar. Have them
practice converting grams of added sugar in foods to teaspoons, then weigh
and measure sugar to provide visual models of the amount of sugar in
different foods and beverages.
Be sure to include discussions regarding how food choices can impact body
systems and overall health. If there is a specific label your students would like
to explore, visit one of the Web sites on the resources section for label
information.
In addition to these ideas and the resources available from the California
Healthy Kids Resource Center, there are several handouts at the end of this
training with additional activity ideas, resources, and Web sites.
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Training Objectives Review
• Identify the main components of the food label.
• Use the food label to choose foods that
contribute to a healthy diet.
• Access lessons and resources to support
students in making healthy food choices.
Now that you have completed this training, you have learned the five main
components of the food label and how to use them to make a healthy choice.
We practiced using the food label and ingredients list to choose foods that
contribute to a healthy diet. And, most importantly, you now know where to
access lessons and resources to support your students as they build label
reading skills to make healthier choices.
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Congratulations!
Partner: Californi
California Department
Department of
Education, Nutri
Nutrition Ser
Servi
vices
ces Divis
Divisiion
This material was produced by the California Department of Public Health’s Network for a Healthy California with funding from USDA SNAP,
known in California as CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps). These institutions are equal opportunity providers and employers. CalFresh provides
assistance to low-income households and can help buy nutritious foods for better health. For CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663. For
important nutrition information, visit www.cachampionsforchange.net.
Congratulations! You have reached the end of the Foundations of Nutrition:
Five Things Students Need to Know to Read the Food Label training. You will
now have the opportunity to take a quiz to test the knowledge you have
acquired in this training. If you receive a passing score, a completion
certificate will be e-mailed to you at the e-mail address you provided. If you do
not receive a passing score, you will have the opportunity to take the quiz
again at any time. Following the quiz, you will be asked to complete a brief
feedback survey. After you complete the survey, you will be able to access
sample California Healthy Kids Resource Center library resources and
additional information about the Nutrition Facts label and ingredients list. You
may start the quiz by selecting the quiz link. Congratulations again and thank
you for your participation.
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