How to Read Nutrition Facts Label Numbers, Line by Line

The label at a glance

Learning how to read nutrition facts label numbers is easier with a real one in front of you. The label below uses the numbers from FDA's own sample, a lasagna, with a few lines numbered. The steps next to it follow the order FDA suggests: serving information first, then calories, then nutrients.

Values from FDA's sample lasagna label on its guide to using the Nutrition Facts label.

1. Serving size and servings per container

FDA's first instruction is simple: "first take a look at the number of servings in the package (servings per container) and the serving size." Everything else on the label depends on it. All the nutrient amounts, including the calories, refer to one serving, not the whole package.

Serving sizes are standardized so similar foods are easier to compare. They're given in a familiar unit, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount in grams. In the sample, one serving is 1 cup of lasagna and the package holds 4 servings.

One point people miss: the serving size isn't advice. FDA says it "reflects the amount that people typically eat or drink. It is not a recommendation of how much you should eat or drink." If your plate holds 2 cups, you're eating 2 servings, and you need to double every number, including the %DVs.

Two cups of this lasagna give almost three-quarters of a day's sodium. That's the kind of thing you only see when you read the serving line first.

Serving sizes changed with the new label

The current label design, which most manufacturers had to use by January 1, 2020 (or January 1, 2021 for companies with less than $10 million in annual food sales), updated serving sizes to match what people actually eat. FDA gives these examples:

• Ice cream: the reference amount went from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup.
• Soda: from 8 ounces to 12 ounces.
• Yogurt: down from 8 ounces to 6 ounces.

Packages between one and two servings, "such as a 20 ounce soda or a 15-ounce can of soup," must now be labeled as one serving, because people usually finish them in one sitting.

Dual-column labels

Some packages are bigger than one serving but could still be eaten in one go, like a 24-ounce bottle of soda or a pint of ice cream. For these, manufacturers must use a "dual column" label that shows calories and nutrients both "per serving" and "per package" or "per unit." If you see two columns, pick the one that matches what you'll actually eat.

2. How many calories are in one serving?

The calorie number is the biggest, boldest line on the label, on purpose. FDA increased the type size for "Calories," "servings per container" and the "Serving size" declaration, and made the calorie number and the serving size bold. If you want to know what that number measures, read what is a calorie.

So how many calories are in one serving? Exactly the number printed next to Calories, and only for the serving size shown above it. In the sample, one cup of lasagna has 280 calories. FDA's own example asks what happens if you eat the whole package: "you would consume 4 servings, or 1,120 calories."

Once you know how many calories are in one serving, here's a quick way to get the calories for what you really eat:

1. Weigh or measure your portion.
2. Divide it by the serving size (in grams or in the household unit).
3. Multiply the label calories by that number.

For example, if a serving is 40 g with 150 calories and you pour 60 g, that's 60 ÷ 40 = 1.5 servings, or 225 calories. The calorie converter does this for grams, ounces and cups, and you can log the result in the calorie counter.

FDA notes that "2,000 calories a day is used as a general guide for nutrition advice. Your calorie needs may be higher or lower and vary depending on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level." To see your own number, use the TDEE calculator. To see what 2,000 calories looks like as real meals, try our meal plan for 2000 calories a day.

You won't find "Calories from Fat" on the current label anymore. FDA removed it "because research shows the type of fat is more important than the amount." Total fat, saturated fat and trans fat are still listed.

3. What does DV stand for in nutrition?

DV stands for Daily Value, and it's the key to how to read nutrition facts label percentages quickly. FDA defines Daily Values as "the recommended amounts of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day." They're expressed in grams, milligrams or micrograms.

The %DV column turns each amount into a percentage of that daily reference. In FDA's words, the %DV "is how much a nutrient in a single serving of an individual packaged food or dietary supplement contributes to your daily diet." In the sample, 850 mg of sodium is 37% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value.

Beyond what does DV stand for in nutrition, a few things to know about %DV:

• It's based on a 2,000-calorie day, so it's a general guide, not a personal target.
• The column doesn't add up to 100%. Each nutrient is a percentage of its own Daily Value.
• Some lines have no %DV. Trans fat and total sugars have no Daily Value, and a %DV for protein is only required when the product makes a protein claim or is meant for children under 4.

The 5/20 rule

FDA's general guide to %DV is the most useful shortcut on the whole label:

• 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low.
• 20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is considered high.

Use it in both directions. You want fiber and calcium to sit near 20% or above, and sodium and saturated fat near 5% or below. The lasagna is high in sodium (37%), saturated fat (23%) and calcium (25%), and in between for fiber (14%).

To turn a %DV back into grams, multiply it by the Daily Value. 14% of 28 g of fiber is about 4 g, which matches the lasagna label. Your own fiber and fat targets may differ from these; the fiber calculator and fat intake calculator work them out for your calories.

4. Nutrients to get less of

FDA groups three nutrients as ones to get less of: saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. On the label, these are the lines where a low %DV is better.

• Saturated fat has a Daily Value of 20 g. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines say saturated fat generally shouldn't exceed 10% of daily calories.
• Sodium has a Daily Value of 2,300 mg, the same as the Dietary Guidelines' limit for people 14 and older. On packaged food, the label is the easiest way to see how much a serving adds.
• Added sugars have a Daily Value of 50 g. The Dietary Guidelines go further and say one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars.

Trans fat is also listed under total fat. It has no Daily Value, so read the grams and the ingredient list (see the rounding section below for why "0g" isn't always zero).

5. Nutrients to get more of

The other group is dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. FDA lists these as nutrients to get more of, so a high %DV is a good sign here.

Since the label update, manufacturers must declare the actual amount, not just the %DV, of vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. Vitamin D and potassium became required; calcium and iron were already required. Vitamins A and C are no longer required, though companies can still list them.

Fiber sits under total carbohydrate. If you count net carbs, subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate. The lasagna has 34 g of carbs and 4 g of fiber, so about 30 g of net carbs per serving. Our macro calculator shows how many grams of carbs, protein and fat fit your day.

6. Total sugars vs added sugars

The label shows two sugar lines. Total sugars includes all sugar in the food, including what's there naturally, like the sugar in milk or fruit. Added sugars, indented below it with "Includes," is the part put in during processing.

FDA says added sugars include "sugars that are added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (such as table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices."

FDA's own example: a label that shows 15 g of total sugars and "Includes 7g Added Sugars" means the product "has 7 grams of Added Sugars and 8 grams of naturally occurring sugars – for a total of 15 grams of sugar."

The added sugars line also has a %DV, based on 50 g a day. Single-ingredient sugars such as honey and maple syrup only need the %DV, not the grams, since all of their sugar counts as added. To cut added sugar for two weeks, try our 14-day no sugar diet.

7. The footnote

At the bottom of the label is a short note marked with an asterisk: "The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice." It's a reminder that %DV is a reference, not your personal requirement. If you eat 1,600 calories a day, 20% DV of a nutrient covers a bigger share of your own needs than the label suggests, and if you eat 2,800, a smaller one.

Why the numbers look rounded

Part of knowing how to read nutrition facts labels is knowing they don't show exact values. FDA's labeling rule, 21 CFR 101.9, says how to round each number:

This matters in two ways. First, a label that says 0 g of trans fat or sugar can still contain up to just under 0.5 g per serving. If you eat several servings, it adds up. Second, a "0 calorie" product can have up to 4 calories per serving. If you want to see how the rules work, the nutrition label maker applies them to any numbers you type.

The ingredient list and allergens

The ingredient list isn't part of the Nutrition Facts box, but it's the second half of reading a label. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, heaviest first. If sugar, refined flour or oil is near the start, that's what most of the product is.

A few things to look for:

• Sugars under other names. Syrups, honey, dextrose, sucrose and fruit juice concentrates are all added sugars. Several different ones spread through the list can add up to a lot.
• Whole grains. A whole grain named first, such as "whole wheat flour" or "rolled oats," tells you more than a front-of-pack claim does.
• Additives the Dietary Guidelines flag. The 2025–2030 guidelines advise limiting foods with artificial flavors, petroleum-based dyes, artificial preservatives and low-calorie non-nutritive sweeteners.

Allergens must be declared. The major food allergens in the U.S. are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. They're usually shown in a "Contains:" line under the ingredients.

The U on food labels and other symbols

One of the most searched label questions isn't about nutrition at all: what is the U on food labels? A capital U inside a circle is the kosher certification symbol of the Orthodox Union, known as OU. The Orthodox Union says its "circled-U hechsher symbol, is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products."

On its own, the OU symbol means the product is kosher and pareve, meaning it contains neither dairy nor meat and wasn't made on dairy or meat equipment. Letters next to the symbol add detail:

The U on food labels is about kosher law, not health. A product with a circled U can be high or low in calories, sugar or sodium like any other, so it tells you nothing about nutritional value. If you need to avoid milk for an allergy, check the allergen statement rather than the kosher symbol.

DRI vs DV: the DRI in nutrition definition

DRI comes up in nutrition classes and on supplement labels, and people often mix it up with DV. Here's the DRI in nutrition definition, in Health Canada's words: "Dietary reference intakes (DRIs) are a set of scientifically developed reference values for nutrients." They're set jointly for the United States and Canada, with the reports published by the National Academies, and they cover vitamins, minerals and macronutrients for each age, sex and life stage.

DRI isn't one number. It's a family of values:

• EAR (Estimated Average Requirement): the intake that meets the needs of half the people in a group. It's used to calculate the RDA.
• RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance): the daily intake that meets the needs of nearly all (97 to 98%) healthy people in a group. It's the goal for an individual's usual intake.
• AI (Adequate Intake): used when there isn't enough evidence to set an EAR and RDA.
• UL (Tolerable Upper Intake Level): the highest daily intake likely to pose no risk of harm to almost everyone. It's not a target.
• AMDR (Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range): the range for protein, fat and carbohydrate as a percentage of calories.
• CDRR (Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intake): intakes expected to reduce the risk of a chronic disease, set only when the evidence is strong enough.

The DRI in nutrition definition points to the real difference: scope. DRIs are detailed and personal: a 30-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man have different RDAs for many nutrients. The Daily Value is one reference number per nutrient that FDA uses on labels for adults and children 4 and older, so everyone reads the same %DV on the same package. Use DVs to compare foods, and DRIs when you want to know what you, specifically, need.

Comparing two products

The label is most useful side by side, and comparing is where knowing how to read nutrition facts labels pays off. FDA's advice: "Use %DV to compare food products (remember to make sure the serving size is the same) and more often choose products that are higher in nutrients you want to get more of and lower in nutrients you want to get less of."

Here's a made-up example of two breakfast cereals, to show how to read nutrition facts labels side by side:

At first glance Cereal B looks lighter, with 120 calories against 150. But its serving is smaller. Scale Cereal B up to 40 g (multiply by 40 ÷ 30, about 1.33) and it has 160 calories, about 1 g of fiber, 12 g of added sugars and 253 mg of sodium. At the same weight, Cereal A has fewer calories, almost four times the fiber and a third of the added sugar. That's why the serving size comes first.

For a fuller comparison of foods by what they give per calorie, see our guide to nutritional value.

Common label traps

1. Eating more than one serving. A bag of chips or a bottle of juice may hold more than one serving. Check servings per container, or the second column on a dual-column label.
2. Trusting "0g." Under the rounding rules, 0 g can mean up to just under 0.5 g per serving.
3. Treating %DV as personal. It's based on 2,000 calories a day. Smaller and larger eaters should adjust.
4. Reading total sugars as added sugars. Plain milk and yogurt have natural sugar but no added sugar. The "Includes … Added Sugars" line is the one to watch.
5. Judging by the front of the box. Words on the front are marketing. The Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list are the facts.
6. Forgetting what you add. The label for dry pasta or cereal doesn't include the sauce, butter or milk you put on it.

How to read nutrition facts labels in practice

Once you know how to read nutrition facts labels, the routine takes a few seconds per product: serving size, calories, the 5/20 rule on the nutrients you care about, a glance at the ingredients. If you're tracking food, enter the label numbers for your real portion in the calorie counter. If you make food to sell or share, the nutrition label maker builds an FDA-style label from your recipe, with the same rounding rules described above.

It also helps to know your own numbers. A label's %DV assumes 2,000 calories, but your calorie needs come from your size and activity. The TDEE calculator gives that number, and the macro calculator splits it into protein, carbs and fat so you can see how one serving fits your day.

Nutrition label FAQ