Food Packaging Worksheet: Nutrient Claims, Nutrition Facts, and Ingredients
This worksheet can help you learn how to read food packaging labels.
What you will need:
- This worksheet
- A food package that includes ALL of the following: nutrient claims, nutrition facts, and a list of ingredients
- The other attached handout that includes criteria for specific nutrient claims (i.e. low sugar, reduced sodium, etc.)
- To refer to pages 66-71 of your text
1. Food item:
- How many servings are in this package?
- According to the package, what is the amount of one serving?
- Is this portion size an amount that most people would eat at one sitting? Explain why or why not.
- How many calories are provided in one serving of this food?
- What nutrient claims are listed on this food package?
- List the criteria for each of those claims below:
- How much total fat is in one serving of this product?
- How much saturated fat is in one serving of this product?
- What percentage of total fat is from saturated fat in this product?
- How much trans-fat is listed on the Nutrition Facts label?
- Read the ingredient list carefully. Does your food contain any ingredients that could provide trans-fat? How do you know for sure? (Hint: What type of ingredients should you look for to determine if a product contains even slight amounts of trans-fat?)
- How much cholesterol is in one serving of this food?
- Reading over the ingredient list, what ingredient(s) do you think provide the cholesterol? Whether your food does or doesn’t contain cholesterol, how do you know this for sure?
- How much sugar is provided in one serving of this food?
- A person eating a 2000-calorie diet should consume no more than 32 grams (g) of added sugar/day. If you ate your usual amount of this product (which may be more than one serving), how many grams of sugar would you consume?
- Reading the ingredient list carefully, which ingredients provide the sugar in this food? List each ingredient and state whether it is a natural or added sugar.
- How much fiber is in each serving of this food?
- Most women require 25 g of fiber/day and men require 38 g/day. What percentage of the total requirement is provided by one serving of this food for females? For males?
- How much sodium does one serving of this food contain?
- You should keep your total intake of sodium below 2400 mg/ day. What percentage of your daily sodium allowance is found in one serving of this product?
- How much protein is provided in one serving of this food?
- By weight, which three ingredients does this food provide the most of?
- All foods must provide nutrition information for vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. What other vitamins and minerals does this food item provide information for?
- Do you think that this is a healthful food choice? Explain your answer below:
