Getting the facts on nutrition in food

By Injil Abu Bakar

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Almost all processed food is required by law to have a nutritional facts section on its packaging.

Nutrition facts is the new nutrition label, providing the information you need to: identify the nutrients concerning health; determine how particular foods fit into a total healthy eating pattern; and compare nutrients across different food types and brands.

Making informed food choices is an important part of a healthy way of life. Read on and learn how to use the new nutrition label.

Below is an example of the new standard nutrition label found on most food packages. Some packages, though, have a shorter nutritional facts section.

These include foods with only a few nutrients, as well as products in smaller-sized packages with little label space.

Serving Size :

Similar foods have similar serving sizes. This makes nutrient comparison easier. All of the nutrient information on the label is based on the indicated serving size. If you eat the equivalent of two serving sizes, you will receive double the amount of nutrients listed on the label.

New Nutrient List :

These nutrients are the important ones for maintaining your health. That is because too much of some nutrients, such as total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, or not enough of others, such as vitamins A and C, calcium, iron and dietary fiber, may lead to an increased risk for developing a variety of disease.

These include heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, constipation, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.

Daily Value

First, what is a daily value? Daily values are numbers set by the government. Some help you determine the maximum amount of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium to consume each day to stay healthy, while some help you identify optimal amounts of total carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

These daily values can differ from person to person because most are based on the number of calories an individual should consume to maintain a healthy body weight. The government bases the food label daily values on a 2000-calorie reference diet. Your own daily values may be higher or lower depending on your daily calorie needs.

Other daily values help you determine the amount of vitamins and minerals you need each day to maintain your health. These daily values apply to everyone, regardless of the number of calories consumed.

Second, what is a percent of daily value?

Nutrition facts features a percent of daily value. This indicates how far a serving of a particular food goes toward meeting the daily values of a person consuming 2000 calories a day.

It enables an individual to judge how a food fits into his or her overall eating pattern. One food serving of a sample package contributes 3 grams of fat toward a daily value of not more than 65 g of fat -- or only 5 percent of the sample daily value. This low-fat food can easily fit into a healthy 2000 calorie diet. One food serving of this package also contributes 80 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin A. This means that one serving alone almost meets the daily requirement of this important nutrient.

Daily values footnote

Some food labels list the daily values for 2000 calorie and 2500 calorie daily diets. This is to help you better estimate what your daily values are. If you would like to figure out your own daily values more accurately, first determine your optimal daily calorie intake. This number forms the basis of all other calculations. A dietitian or nutritionist can help. Here are some examples using a daily calorie intake of 2200.

To calculate daily values for:

* Total Fat (to keep your daily fat intake to no more than 30 percent of calories)

- Multiply daily calories by 0.3

- Divide the answer by 9

Example: 2200 daily calories x 0.3 / 9 = 73 g of total fat

* Saturated Fat (to keep your daily saturated fat intake to no more than 10 percent of calories)

- Multiply daily calories by 0.1

- Divide the answer by 9

Example: 2200 daily calories x 0.1 /9 = 24 g of saturated fat

* Cholesterol (you should not exceed this amount)

300 mg of cholesterol (no calculations needed)

* Sodium (moderate your daily intake)

2400 mg of sodium (no calculations needed)

* Total Carbohydrates (you should eat at least this amount)

- Multiply daily calories by 0.6

- Divide the answer by 4

Example: 2200 daily calories x 0.6 / 4 = 333 g of carbohydrates

* Dietary Fiber

25 - 35 g of dietary fiber (no calculations needed)

The writer is a general practitioner based in Denpasar, Bali