FACS Standards 8.6.1, 8.6.2, Kowtaluk, Helen and Orphanos Kopan, Alice. Food For Today. McGraw Hill – Glencoe F OOD L ABELS

B ASIC I NFORMATION  USDA regulates much of information on most food labels  Aim – make sure consumers have complete, useful, and accurate information about foods they buy and eat

 Food name  Net weight  Manufacturer, packager, or distributor  Location of company  Ingredients listed from most to least

N UTRITION I NFORMATION  Source of nutrition information  Nearly all packaged foods carry standardized “Nutrition Facts” panel  Each panel contains same information in standard format – serving size, calories, nutrient amounts, percent of Daily Value

S ERVING S IZE  Based on amount of food customarily taken at one time  FDA has set established amounts  Rest of label based on one serving size

C ALORIES  Total calories per serving  Calories from fat

N UTRIENT A MOUNTS AND D AILY V ALUES  Nutrients most important to a healthy eating plan are given in total fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein  % Daily Value – specific nutrition reference amount recommended by health experts

L ABEL L ANGUAGE  Low… - can be used on labels of food that could be eaten frequently without exceeding recommended amounts of indicated nutrients  Reduced…; less…; fewer…. – must have at least 25% less of something than a comparable food

 High in…. – means one serving provides at least 20% of the Daily Value for a specified nutrient  Good source of …. – one serving contains 10-19% of Daily Value for a particular nutrient  …-Free – an amount of ingredient is so small that it is not likely to affect your body

 Organically grown…. – manner in which a fresh or processed food was grown or produced – typically without pesticides or fertilizers

P RODUCT D ATING  Voluntary, industry-wide system  Except for infant formula and some baby food, federal government does not require food manufacturers or processors to provide dating information

 “sell by” date – last day the product should remain on store shelf  “Use by” date – product may still be safe to eat, but quality will start to go down  Code dating – series of numbers or letters that indicate where and when the product was packaged

O THER I NFORMATION  Some products are “graded” and this information is on food label  Beverages that contain juice must list the percentage of juice  Picture on label should be what is inside OR package must state “serving suggestion”

 Directions for using product may be on label  Special handling instructions also on label  UPC – Universal Product Code – bar code read by a scanner  1 st 5 numbers identify the manufacturer; 2 nd 5 identify product size and flavor  Price identifier; inventory