Understand Nutrients on Food Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts 1 servings per container Serving Size gram (100g) Amount per serving Calories 1 % Daily Value* Total Fat or Total Lipid 1g Saturated Fat 1g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 1mg Sodium 1mg Total Carbohydrate 1g Dietary Fiber 1g Total Sugars 1g Includes 1g Added Sugars Protein 1g Vitamin D 1mcg Calcium 1mg Iron 1mg Potassium 1mg Vitamin A 1mcg Vitamin C 1mg Thiamin 1mg Riboflavin 1mg Niacin 1mg Vitamin B6 1mg Folate 1mcg DFE (1mcg folic acid) Vitamin B12 1mcg Phosphorus 1mg Magnesium 1mg Zinc 1mg Choline 1mg * The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Learn Nutrition on Food Labels Do you know what are the health benefits a nutrient has? Do you know which nutrients can help you to boost your body immune function? Click a nutrient on the sample food nutrition label to interactively learn the knowledge of the nutrient you click, such as what it is, its functions to human bodies, and its primary food sources. 1 Nutrient amount is in 100 gram food 2 Use FDA 2000 calorie diet as Daily Value reference View Nutrient Detail Top Food Sources

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI)

Food nutrition Dietary Reference Intakes are published by Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. It is based on the collaborative scientific research from scientists in United States and Canada.

EAR: Estimated Average Requirements. The average daily nutrient intake level that is estimated to meet the requirements of half of the healthy individuals in a particular life stage and gender group. RDA: Recommended Dietary Allowances. The average daily dietary nutrient intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98 percent) healthy individuals in a particular life stage and gender group. AI: Adequate Intakes. The recommended average daily intake level based on observed or experimentally determined approximations or estimates of nutrient intake by a group (or groups) of apparently healthy people that are assumed to be adequate; used when an RDA cannot be determined. The key difference between RDA and AI is: RDA value is derived based on enough scientific evidence; AI value is estimated using scientific judgments. UL: Tolerable Upper Intake Levels. The highest average daily nutrient intake level that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population. As intake increases above the UL, the potential risk of adverse effects may increase.

Learn more about Dietary Reference Intakes:
Institute of Medicine. 2006. Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11537.

Nutrient-Dense Foods

For the same amount of foods (for example 100 gram of foods), some foods naturally contain higher amount of nutrients than others, we call them nutrient dense foods.

Another approach to calculate the nutrient density is to divide a nutrient amount by the kcalories of a food. For example, 1 cup (245gram) 2% milk has 308.7mg calcium and 122.5kcal, so this milk's calcium nutrient density is 308.7mg / 122.5kcal = 2.52mg/kcal.

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