Nutrition
Information, Symptoms, Treatments and Resources
Nutrition Labels 101
Check the Serving Size
Check the Serving Size
After scanning the ingredients list, check out the serving size on the Nutritional Facts chart. If you notice the serving size is a small portion but a larger percentage of your daily calories, fat or sodium intake, it’s probably not the healthiest choice. Often, packages contain more that one serving of food, meaning you may need to do some simple math to accurately count calories, fat, sugar and the like. For instance, if you normally have 2 cups of cereal for breakfast, and the label says a serving is equal to 1 cup, you’ll need to double all of the nutrition information on the chart. You may discover that some foods are much higher in calories, fat or sugar than you anticipated.
By Amanda Tust. Published April 29, 2013. Amanda is a Denver-based health, science and lifestyle writer.
Reviewed by Joseph Sclafani, MD on April 14, 2015.
