Reading Food Labels
Saturated fat. Carbohydrates. Calories. These days, everyone reads food labels. But what can they do for you and your baby during your pregnancy and beyond?
By reading the nutrition information on food labels, you will be able to:
- Make informed food choices
- Compare products more easily
- Determine the nutritional value of foods
- Increase or decrease your intake of certain nutrients
- Better manage special diets
- Follow Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide more easily
Here are some examples of what you may see on food labels. For more complete information visit the website links located below.
Nutrition Claims
Nutrient content claims tell you about 1 nutrient such as sodium, fat, sugar or fibre. For example: no sugar added, fat free, excellent source of fibre
Health claims tell you how your diet can affect your health. For example: A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Ingredient List
The ingredient list tells you what ingredients are in a packaged food. Ingredients are listed by weight from most to least.
The Nutrition Facts Table
Provides you with information on the Calories and 13 nutrients for the serving size shown. Compare the serving size on the package to the amount that you eat.
Percent Daily Value
% Daily Value puts nutrients on a scale from 0% to 100%. This scale tells you if there is a little or a lot of a nutrient in 1 serving of packaged food.
Choose packaged foods with a low % Daily Value of:
- Fat, saturated fat, trans fat
- Cholesterol
- Sodium
Choose packaged foods with a high % Daily Value of:
- Fibre
- Vitamin A and vitamin C
- Calcium
- Iron