About food labels

What has to be included on a food label?

By law, most packaged food must be labelled with:

• a nutrition facts table, which gives you information on:
  • serving size
  • calories
  • nutrients
  • percent daily values (% DV)
• an ingredient list, which lists all the ingredients in a food by weight
  • this begins with the ingredient that weighs the most and ends with the ingredient that weighs the least

Some packaged food may also have nutrition and health claims. These claims describe the:

• amount of a nutrient in a food, for example:
  • "low sodium"
• positive effects of a food on your health, for example:
  • "A healthy diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer."