Wrapping up this Nutrition Facts series, it covers all the information at your fingertips on most of your foods. This entry covers those percentages on the right side of the Nutrition Facts panel, how this may apply to you, and how you can use it even if those numbers aren't in line with your specific needs.

Continuing with part 3 of this series on the Nutrition Facts label addresses the required vitamins and minerals: vitamin D, sodium, iron, calcium, and potassium. Why are these nutrients the ones listed? What are the reference amounts are for them?

Continuing with part 2 of this series on the Nutrition Facts label covers the macronutrients: fat, carbohydrates, and protein. I also address the sub-categories of fat including saturated fat and trans-fat, cholesterol, and the sub-categories of carbohydrates including the newest addition to the Nutrition Facts - added sugars.

See why those numbers don’t always add up and why protein seems like an afterthought. It isn’t

As I showed in Part 1 of Deconstructing Food Labels, one of several required information on the food label is the Nutrition Facts panel.

This required piece of information in the iconic black and white Arial font was required since May 1994, with a minor update that trans-fat be listed on labels by January 1, 2006.

Over the next several years, recommended tweaks and refinements to that label brought forth a "new and improved" label that was required starting January 1, 2020, with some leeway of another year for smaller companies for compliance by January 1, 2021.

While the Nutrition Facts panel is an excellent source of information, people don't always know what to pay attention to or how it applies to them. Others find it confusing or misinterpret the information on there.

Concluding the topic of food labels today addresses GMO labels, what this means, and should you pay extra for foods with this label?

While one would think that the label non-GMO is factually correct, this is not true. And just because a food has this label doesn’t mean the same food from a different company IS GMO.

This is part 4 of the series, Deconstructing Food Labels.

Continuing with the series on food labels, today’s topic includes some of those fronts of the package claims that are true but possibly misleading. In addition, because these fronts of the package labels tend to follow trends, what may be upfront today may differ a year from now.

The top terms addressed in this post include:

• Natural

• Organic,

• Made with whole grains,

• Low carb,

• Reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free

• No added sugar

With so much information on food labels, it is hard to sift through what it all means and if you even need to pay attention to these things.

There are many “front of the package” labels too. Some of these are regulated. Others are mostly there for the hype and marketing to imply that one food brand is what you should choose. There are things like “natural,” “gluten-free,” and “no GMOs.” These are not regulated terms for the most part.

In this article, there are three types of statements allowed on food labels that the Food & Drug Administration regulates. These are Nutrient Claims, Health, Claims, and Structure-Function Claims. Can you trust these? As with many items in nutrition, this is another “it depends” situation.

This is part 2 of a series.

There is a lot of information packed onto a food label. There are required items and other items that are voluntary. Some of the voluntary things seen on the front of the package could be there merely to help sell a product, such as when peanut butter claims it is gluten-free (it is, but then all peanut butter is).

There are regulations about what is required and the use of certain statements making specific claims.

Because this topic is so extensive, I am breaking it into several articles to cover the various aspects. This entry is part 1.