Pretty Neat Guide I snagged from TJ's! It really explains food labels and how the FDA- Food And Drug administration decides how things are displayed. Isnt' it funny that the "Food And Drug" Administration deals with both "Foods AND Drugs"? Like what's THAT about? Makes me take a step back, sense GMO manufacturing was started by the big PHARMA, huge drug companies that make terrible drugs like "paxil, zoloft, welbutrin", etc. Makes you wonder... WHY are they also handling our FOOD quality and how can they possibly decide how good and healthy food is, if they have approved SO many terrible drugs? Hummmm......
SOMETHING's A FISHY......
(I'm going to intercept this article for a moment because I'm LAUGHING at the idea that protein, one of the MAIN and probably most significant building blocks of the human system as whole, is NOT assigned a daily value!) I HIGHLY recommend mothers get a MINIMUM of 70 Grams of protein a day, but MORE if they're in their last trimester!****
Everything about the nutrition label -- what it contains, what it doesn't, and how it is presented -- was decided upon by the FDA.
Serving Size
All serving sizes have been set by the FDA. All of the information below pertains to this amount of food.
Calories
Calories are figured from the amount of fat, carbohydrate, and protein in the food.
Calories from Fat
This shows how many calories come from fat. To find the Percentage of Calories Derived from Fat, divide Calories from Fat by total Calories. In this case, this food gets 5 of its 150 calories from fat, or 3%.
% Daily Value*
This is a way that you can evaluate how a particular food fits into your daily meal plan. These percentages are based on health agency guidelines listed in the footnote at the bottom of the label, for a person eating 2,000 calories in a day. This food item provides only 1% of the amount of fat that a person eating 2,000 calories would consume in a day. Daily Values do not indicate the percentage of a nutrient in a food — for instance, the Daily Value for fat does NOT show the percentage of calories from fat.
Total Fat
Many people are watching how much fat they eat. Total fat consists of four subtypes of fat: saturated fat, trans fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat.
Saturated Fat
This is a fat that's linked with high blood cholesterol. (saturated fat can be rounded to 0 grams if less than 1/2 gram per serving).
Trans Fat
This is a fat that’s linked with high blood cholesterol. (may be 0 grams if less than 1/2 gram per serving).
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is only found in products of animal origin. If a product has very little cholesterol (less than 2 mg per \ serving), this value can be rounded down to zero mg.
Sodium
High levels of sodium are found in salt, soy sauce, condiments, processed foods, cured meats and cheese. Some people are very salt sensitive. Others can eat sodium without ill effects. (sodium can be rounded to 0 grams if less than 5 mg per serving).
Total Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates contain three categories: simple carbohydrates (sugars); complex carbohydrates (starches); and dietary fiber.
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber are carbohydrates that aren’t digested by human enzymes. They're only found in foods of plant origin, and provide roughage or bulk to our foods. (dietary fiber can be rounded to 0 grams if less than 1/2 gram per serving).
Sugars
Sugars can be naturally occurring, like the fructose in fruit and juice, or lactose in milk. They can also be from refined sources, such as table sugar (sucrose), corn syrup, or molasses. The FDA has not determined a Daily Value for sugar. (sugars can be rounded to 0 grams if less than 1/2 gram per serving).
Protein
Protein is the building material of our bodies. The FDA has determined that most Americans get more than enough protein, and does not require a Daily Value listing.
Vitamins and Minerals
These numbers list the percentage of the USRDA of these nutrients. USRDA stands for United States Recommended Daily Allowance.
*Percent Daily Values Footnote
Health agencies, such as the American Heart Association, have set guidelines for healthy eating. This footnote sets out guidelines that apply to people eating 2,000 or 2,500 calories. These guidelines don't change from label to label. They do not represent what's in the food you're buying. Instead, these numbers are used to calculate the Daily Values column above. For instance, a person eating 2,000 calories should eat no more than 65 grams of fat. A serving of this food provides 0.5 grams of fat. Divide 0.5 by 65 to get 1%. This food provides 1% of your Daily Value for total fat if you eat 2,000 calories.
Calories per gram Footnote
These numbers are constants. Every gram of fat has 9 calories. A gram of carbohydrate or protein has 4 calories each. For instance, this food has 0.5 grams of fat. You would multiply 0.5 by 9 to get 4.5, which is rounded up to 5 Calories from Fat.
This is really a wonderful post.
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