Encyclopedia of Diets - A Guide to Health and Nutrition

packaged food available for sale. This information

includes:

Name of the product. Laws regulating what some

products may be called based on their content and

processing. This explains why some substances that

look like cheese are called ‘‘cheese food‘‘ or ‘‘proc-

essed cheese product,’’ and some juice-like products

are called ’’fruit drinks‘‘ or ’’fruit beverages’’ and not

juice.

Net quantity. This is the amount of food by weight in

the package. It does not include the weight of the

packaging. Meat and poultry labels are required to

give the weight in Imperial(avoirdupois) measures

such as pounds or ounces. Other foods are required

to give the weight in both English and metric (grams,

kilograms) units.

serving size and number of servings the package

contains, except for single-serving packages.

Nutrition facts. Calories, calories from fat, total fat,

saturated fat,transfat, cholesterol, sodium, total

carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin

A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron must be listed for a

single serving of the food. This information is not

required on fresh meat, fresh poultry, fresh seafood,

or fresh fruit and vegetables.

ingredient list. Every ingredient must be listed in

order from the greatest to least by weight. There are

exceptions for certain artificial colors and flavorings

which may be listed generically by terms like ‘‘artifi-

cial coloring.’’

Name of manufacturer or distributor. In some cases

a full street address also is required.

Supplemental required information

Certain foods are required to have additional

information on the label. Some of these requirements

are listed below.

Foods containing the fat replacer olestra must state

this on the label. See the entry on fat replacers for

additional information.

Foods containing sorbital or mannitol, both artifi-

cial sweeteners must list the amount.

Foods packaged under pressure must indicate the

contents are under pressure.

Juices that have not been completely pasteurized

must state they have not been completely processed.

Serving Size

Title

Mandatory Nutrients

• Nutrients currently
  considered important to health


• % Daily value tells how
  food fits into a 2,000-calorie diet


• Four vitamins and minerals listed

Calorie Conversions

• Used to calculate % calories from fat,
  carbohydrate, and protein


• Optional feature
  
  
  • Standardized amounts to compare
    similar products
  
  
  • Household measures to visualize
    serving amount
  
  
  • Metric equivalent
  
  
  • Standardized wording
  
  
  • Servings per container in specified
    increments
  
  
  
  

Daily Values

• Basis for comparison


• Basis for current guidelines


• Comparative values at two calorie levels


• Consistent information

Features of nutrition facts panel

(Illustration by GGS Information Services/Thomson Gale.)

Food labeling