Nutritional facts

From ArticleWorld

The nutritional information that is commonly found on prepackaged food that is sold in the United Kingdom, North American and other countries is known as nutritional facts.' This information is typically found on a nutritional facts label.

United States guidelines

The nutritional facts label in the United States is required to list the percentage of nutrients that are supplied of the required amount of one day of human nutrients. In very few cases the label is not yet required by law. In these instances a list of food ingredients is instead provided.

Nutrients that are always listed include fat, carbohydrate and protein. Cholesterol, sodium, some vitamins and minerals are also often listed.

The label includes a standard serving amount and the number of calories in the serving.

Products that make certain health claims, such as being low in fat or high in fiber are required to meet additional regulations as set forth by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the nutritional facts panel typically carries the label “Nutrition Information.” First, it will always provide the values of a set quantity as appropriate for the food. This is often also defined as the “serving size.” First it lists the energy values in both calories and kilojoules.

Next it breaks down the key elements: protein, starch, carbohydrate, fat, sugar, sodium and fiber. The fat figure is then typically broken down into two types: saturated fat and unsaturated fat. The carbohydrate calculation usually gives the total of all sugars (rather than breaking them down by type).

In the United Kingdom, most food are not held to specific regulations as to their classification of being either low fat or high fiber, but fats that are spread able have requirements pertaining to how much fat they may contain. Terms like “reduced calorie” cannot be used unless it can be proved that the foodstuff has significantly fewer calories than the typical version of that food.