Food labels can be an important tool in weight management by helping you make more informed food choices. In general, you want to favor foods that are relatively high in the nutrients you’d like to consume more of, such as fiber and vitamins, and relatively low in calories and nutrients such as fat of which you’d like to limit your consumption. To complete this worksheet, choose three packaged foods to evaluate:

Item 1:

Item 2:

Item 3:

Part I. Nutrient Content Claims

Look first at the front of the food packages to see if they contain any nutrient content claims. The following claims may be associated with foods that can help with weight management; check any that appear.

Item 1	Item 2	Item 3
			Healthy (a food that is low in total fat, low in saturated and trans fat, has no more than 360-480 mg of sodium and 60 mg of cholesterol, and provides 10% or more of the Daily Value for vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, or dietary fiber)
Claims relating to calories, fat, and other substances you might limit for weight management:
			Healthy (a food that is low in total fat, low in saturated and trans fat, has no more than 360-480 mg of sodium and 60 mg of cholesterol, and provides 10% or more of the Daily Value for vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, or dietary fiber)
			Light or lite (one-third fewer calories or 50% less fat than a similar product)
			Low calorie (40 calories or less per serving)
			Reduced calorie (at least 25% fewer calories than a similar product)
			Fat-free (less than 0.5 g of fat per serving)
			Low-fat (3 g of fat or less per serving)
			Reduced fat (at least 25% less fat than a similar product)
			Lean (cooked seafood, meat, or poultry with less than 10 g of fat, 4.5 g of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per serving)
			Extra lean (cooked seafood, meat, or poultry with less than 5 g of fat, 2 g of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per serving)
			Sugar-free (less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving)
			Reduced sugar (at least 25% less sugar than a similar product)
Claims relating to fiber, vitamins, and other substances you might favor for weight management:
			High, rich in, or excellent source of (20% or more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient)
			Good source of (10-19% of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient)
			Extra or added (10% more of the Daily Value per serving when compared to a similar product)
			High fiber (5 g or more per serving)
			Good source of fiber (2.5-4.9 g per serving)
			More or added fiber (at least 2.5 g more per serving than a similar product)

Part II. The Nutrition Facts Panel

Take a closer look at the Nutrition Facts panels of the foods you’ve chosen to evaluate, and fill in the information below. If your typical serving size is larger than the standard serving size listed on the label, adjust the nutrient values accordingly. (For example, if the serving size on the label is four crackers and you typically eat eight crackers, multiply all the values on the label by two.) If additional vitamins and minerals appear on the Nutrition Facts panels of one or more of the foods you’ve selected, list them under “other.”

	Item 1	Item 2	Item 3
Serving size on label
Your typical serving size
Calories	calories	calories	calories
Total fat	grams	grams	grams
Dietary fiber	grams	grams	grams
Sugars	grams	grams	grams
Vitamin A	% DV	% DV	% DV
Vitamin C	% DV	% DV	% DV
Calcium	% DV	% DV	% DV
Iron	% DV	% DV	% DV
Other:
Other:
Other:
Other:

Next, calculate what percentage of each food’s total calories come from fat and sugar.

Item 1:	( × 9)	+	( × 4)	=		÷		=	% of calories from fat and sugar
	grams of fat		grams of sugar				total calories
Item 1:	( × 9)	+	( × 4)	=		÷		=	% of calories from fat and sugar
	grams of fat		grams of sugar				total calories
Item 1:	( × 9)	+	( × 4)	=		÷		=	% of calories from fat and sugar
	grams of fat		grams of sugar				total calories

Finally, think about how each of the foods you’ve chosen would fit into your overall daily diet. Ask your self the following questions (“Yes” answers may indicate a food that should be limited by people for whom weight management is a concern):

	Item 1		Item 2		Item 3
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Is my typical serving size much larger than the label serving size?
Does the food have a high energy density—that is, many calories in a relatively small amount of food?
Is the food high in fat and/or sugar?
Is the food low in fiber?
Is the food low in vitamins and minerals?

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