How to read a Nutrition Facts label

Eight steps, on this label

1. Start with the serving size. Every amount on the label is for one serving: here 170 g, one container. Two servings double every line; the portion switch on the label at left does the arithmetic.
2. Read the calories. Calories are the energy in one serving: 150 here. The 2,000 calories in the footnote is a reference for the % Daily Value, not a recommendation for you.
3. Use the % Daily Value. FDA treats 5% DV or less of a nutrient in one serving as low and 20% DV or more as high. This yogurt's sodium is 3% DV (low) and its calcium 14% DV.
4. Watch saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. Their Daily Values are 20 g, 2,300 mg and 50 g (21 CFR 101.9(c)(9)). Of this yogurt's 21g of total sugars, 16g are added: 32% of the Daily Value in one container.
5. Look for fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. The four minerals and vitamins at the bottom of the label are the ones FDA requires because many Americans get too little of them; fiber sits under carbohydrate.
6. Read the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by weight, the most first (21 CFR 101.4(a)(1)). This yogurt's list opens with Cultured Grade A Low Fat Milk, then Sugar and Modified Corn Starch: sugar is its second ingredient, which the added-sugars line above puts in grams.
7. Check for allergens. Allergens are named in the ingredient list, and many labels repeat them in a "Contains" line after it. Here milk is the one to look for, in Cultured Grade A Low Fat Milk. Every product page on this site prints the manufacturer's statement as submitted; the package in your hand is the authority.
8. If there are two columns. A unit such as one bar or one can that weighs two to three times FDA's reference amount carries a second column for the whole unit beside the per-serving one (21 CFR 101.9(b)(2)(i)(D)); a package holding 150 to 200% of the reference amount is labeled as one serving (101.9(b)(6)). Read the column that matches what you will eat.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, "How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label" (fda.gov); 21 CFR 101.9. Ingredient order and the two-column label: 21 CFR 101.4(a)(1) and 101.9(b)(2)(i)(D) (ecfr.gov, read 2026-09-30); the ingredient statement: the manufacturer's USDA record (FoodData Central 2613641).

Questions