How to Read a Nutrition Label

Start with the serving size

Every number on a nutrition facts label — calories, sugar, sodium, and everything else — is calculated per serving, not per package. This is the single most important thing to check first, because a package that looks reasonable at first glance can look very different once you realize it actually contains two or three servings. If you eat the whole package, multiply every number on the label accordingly before comparing it to anything else.

What to generally look at first

You don't need to analyze every line. For a quick, general read, these are usually the most useful:

• Added sugars. Listed separately from total sugars on most labels, this reflects sugar that was added during processing rather than sugar naturally occurring in an ingredient like fruit or milk. As a general habit, lower is usually more favorable, especially in foods you wouldn't expect to be sweet.
• Sodium. Useful to compare across similar products — for example, two brands of canned soup — since sodium content can vary widely between products that otherwise look similar.
• Fiber. Generally, a higher fiber content is a favorable sign, and it's one of the more useful indicators of whether a grain product is closer to whole grain or more refined.
• Protein. Useful for comparing similar products, particularly if a meal or snack is meant to be filling.

What counts as a meaningful amount of any of these varies by food category and by person, so treat this as a way to compare similar products side by side, not as a universal pass/fail test.

The ingredient list is ordered by quantity

Ingredients on a package are listed in descending order by weight, meaning whatever is listed first makes up the largest proportion of the product. This is a quick way to spot, for example, whether a product's main ingredient is a whole grain or a refined flour, or whether sugar (which can appear under many different names) shows up near the top of the list rather than near the bottom.

Use labels to compare, not to judge

The most practical use of a nutrition label isn't deciding whether a single food is "good" or "bad" in isolation — it's comparing two similar products to decide between them, or getting a general sense of how a food fits into your overall pattern of eating. A packaged food with less favorable numbers isn't automatically off-limits; it's simply useful information for deciding how often and how much of it fits into your week. See our guide on why healthy eating matters for more on why the overall pattern generally matters more than any single food or label.

Percent Daily Value as a rough anchor

Many labels include a "% Daily Value" column next to each nutrient, based on general daily reference amounts. As a very rough rule of thumb that a lot of people find useful, 5% or less is generally considered a low amount of that nutrient in a serving, and 20% or more is generally considered a high amount. This is a general reference point rather than a personal target, since actual needs vary by person, but it's a fast way to gauge whether a serving is a small or large contributor to a nutrient like sodium or fiber without doing any math.

Labels aren't a substitute for individual guidance

This is general label literacy, not medical or nutritional advice. If you have a specific health condition — such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or a kidney condition — that requires tracking specific nutrients closely, a registered dietitian or your doctor can help set targets that are appropriate for your individual situation, which a general guide like this one isn't equipped to do.

Building the habit

Reading labels closely for every single item gets old fast, and it isn't necessary. A more realistic habit is to check labels closely when you're deciding between two similar products, or when you're introducing a new packaged food into your regular rotation. Over time you'll start recognizing which of your usual products tend to run higher or lower on sodium or added sugar without needing to check every time — which is really the point of learning to read a label in the first place.