What is a Nutrient?
- A nutrient is a substance in food that contributes to growth and health. Nutrients have many functions, such as serving as a source of energy, providing structure to cells, and regulating the body’s metabolism.
- Nutrients include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water. Examples of nutrients that are important for growing bodies are protein and calcium.
What are Calories?
- Calories give your body energy to survive and thrive. Calories refer to the “energy” supplied by major food components: fat, carbohydrate, and protein.
- General nutrition advice for children 9 to 13 years of age is that females require about 1,400 to 2,200 calories per day and males require about 1,600 to 2,600 calories per day. However, calorie needs vary. In fact, your calorie needs may be higher or lower and depend on your age, gender, height, weight, and physical activity level.
- Calories derived from foods or beverages containing few or no benefcial nutrients (such as regular soda) are sometimes referred to as “empty calories.” Most empty calories come from added saturated fats, added sugars, and refined starches.
Nutrient-Dense Foods
To get the nutrients you need while meeting your calorie requirements, it’s best to choose “nutrient-dense” foods. Unlike foods with “empty calories,” nutrient-dense foods provide vitamins, minerals, and other health-promoting components and have no or little added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium.
A healthy dietary pattern consists of nutrient-dense forms of foods and beverages across all food groups, in recommended amounts, and within calorie limits. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seafood, eggs, beans, peas, and lentils, unsalted nuts and seeds, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, fortifed soy products, and lean meats and poultry— when prepared with no or little added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium—are nutrient-dense foods.
Nutrition Primer: What’s on the Label?
Serving Size
Serving Size is based on the amount of food that is customarily eaten at one time. The Nutrition Facts label on a food’s package includes nutrition information based on one serving of that food; however, some labels might also list the “per package” nutrition information. For example, a label might have two columns: one with calorie and nutrient information for one serving and the other with the information for the entire package.
The serving size is shown as a common household measure that is appropriate to the food (such as cup, tablespoon, piece, slice, or jar) followed by the metric amount in grams (g) or milliliters (mL).
When you compare calories and nutrients between different foods, don’t forget to check the serving size to make an accurate comparison.
Servings Per Container
The “servings per container” on the label shows the total number of servings in the entire food package or container. Often, a package of food, such as a cereal box, contains more than one serving!
The information listed on the Nutrition Facts label is usually based on one serving; if a package contains four servings and you eat the entire package, you have consumed four times the amount of calories and nutrients that are listed on the label.
Calories
Calories refers to the total number of calories or “energy” supplied from all sources (fat, carbohydrate, and protein) in one serving of the food.
Nutrients
Nutrients play a big role in your health. Knowing the nutrient content in one serving of food enables you to compare foods to make healthy choices.
Percent Daily Value (%DV)
The Percent Daily Value (%DV) on a food’s Nutrition Facts label tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to your daily diet. The %DVs are references for the amount of nutrients to consume (for benefcial nutrients) or not exceed (for nutrients to get less of) each day. The actual amount of a nutrient in a serving of food that corresponds to the %DV is listed in grams [g], milligrams [mg], or micrograms [mcg].
You can use the %DV to compare food products and to choose products that are higher in nutrients you want to get more of (like dietary fber and calcium) and lower in nutrients you want to get less of (like saturated fat and sodium). The %DV column doesn’t add up vertically to 100%; instead, the %DV is the percentage of the Daily Value for each nutrient in one serving of the food.
As a general rule:
- 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low.
- 20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is considered high.
Ingredient List
The ingredient list shows each ingredient in a food by its common or usual name in descending order by weight, so the ingredient that weighs the most in the product is listed first, and the ingredient that weighs the least is listed last. The ingredient list is usually located near the name of the food’s manufacturer and often below the Nutrition Facts label. 
Recipe Analyzers and Label-Making Tools
Everyday cooks and food companies of all sizes can use several online tools to help calculate the nutrients in their recipes and products. Some of these tools also help calculate %DVs and create a Nutrition Facts label for a specifc recipe or product. Some older online recipe analyzers do not calculate Added Sugars separate from the amount of Total Sugars, since declaring Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts label was not required until 2020. In addition, Nutrition Facts label tools that meet FDA labeling guidelines must use specifc “rounding rules” for nutrient quantities and %DVs.
What are the Food Label Rounding Rules?
The Nutrition Facts label rounding rules save space on labels (i.e., restrict the use of too many digits) and provide for consistent presentation requirements for all manufacturers. Consistent rounding rules also make it easier for consumers to compare similar products and choose the foods and beverages that they prefer. These rounding rules are part of the FDA regulations, and they differ depending on the nutrient. 
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