Nutrition labeling is mandatory in Canada for most prepackaged foods. These labels provide a snapshot of the food’s nutritional value. Understanding just what these labels mean will help you make better choices when grocery shopping.

Nutrition fact labels

Be 'label able'

Here are some quick tips to make you “label able”:

• Ingredients list
  This tells you what’s in the product from the most to least. Avoid the product if salt, sugar, and fats are the first three or four ingredients.
• Serving size
  This is the amount of food the nutritional information is based on. One serving is often smaller than you think. Pre-packaged foods containing two items may be referring to one item per serving.
• Percentage of daily value
  This tells you if there’s a lot or a little of a nutrient and is based on recommendations for a healthy diet. Aim for lower percentages (five per cent) for foods you want to avoid like sodium, saturated fat and cholesterol. For the healthy nutrients like fibre, calcium, vitamins and iron, aim for a higher percentage such as 20 per cent.
• Nutrient content claims
  Words such as “low,” “less,” “reduced.” “more,” “very high,” and “source of” usually highlight only one nutrient of the food. Be sure to check the nutritional facts table to determine just how healthy a choice it is.
• Fats
  These are broken down into the different types found in one serving of the item. Avoid products containing saturated and trans fat. The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends 45-75 grams of fat/day for women and 60-105 for men. The majority of this fat should come from healthy unsaturated sources such as olive and canola oils.
• Fibre
  This is listed under “carbohydrate.” Foods with two grams or more are sources of fibre. Those with more than six grams are considered very high sources of fibre.
• Salt
  This is found under “sodium.” The percentage of daily value will help determine the amount of sodium.
• Sugar
  This is listed under “carbohydrate” and refers to all types of sugar found in the product. Look at the ingredients list to determine if the item has added sugar. Sugars can be listed as sugar, honey, molasses, dextrin, syrups and anything ending in “ose” (dextrose, sucrose, fructose, lactose and maltose). Added sugar adds very little, if any, nutritional value so avoid it when possible.