How to Read a Nutrition Label: Every Field, Explained

Every packaged food carries a label that's supposed to help you make an informed choice. But the labels work against you as often as they help: serving sizes mislead, "low fat" often means "high sugar," and the ingredients list hides what really matters. This guide walks every field of a typical nutrition label — what it says, how it differs across the US, EU, UK, and Russia, and what to scan in five seconds in the store.

What's on a nutrition label

A standard nutrition label has three parts:

Serving information — serving size and servings per container
Nutrient declaration — calories, macros, and micronutrients per serving or per 100 g
Ingredients list — what's in the product, ordered by weight

Regional formats vary. Russia and the EAEU follow ТР ТС 022/2011 — per 100 g, ingredients in descending order, allergens on a separate line. The EU follows Regulation 1169/2011 — per 100 g mandatory, per portion optional, % Reference Intake. The US uses the FDA Nutrition Facts panel — per serving, mandatory added-sugar line. The UK adds front-of-pack traffic lights on top of the EU format. Australia and New Zealand add a Health Star Rating.

The underlying nutrients are the same; only the presentation differs.

Serving size: the foundation

On a US label every other number is per serving. If the serving is unrealistic, every other number is too.

Look at two things:

Serving size in grams or millilitres + a household measure ("1 cup", "30 g, about 12 chips")
Servings per container — how many of those servings the package holds

A common trap: a 12-oz bottle of soda lists 1 serving = 8 oz, so calories on the label show 100 — but you'll drink the whole bottle at 150 calories. A "single-serve" muffin can be labelled as 2 servings. Half a frozen pizza can be one serving "for two persons."

EU and Russian labels avoid this trap by defaulting to per 100 g. That's easier for product-to-product comparison but requires a quick calculation for your actual portion.

Calories

Energy per serving or 100 g, in kilocalories (kcal). The EU mandates both kcal and kilojoules (kJ): 1 kcal ≈ 4.184 kJ.

Calories come from three macronutrients:

Fat: 9 kcal/g
Carbohydrate: 4 kcal/g
Protein: 4 kcal/g
Alcohol (rarely on labels): 7 kcal/g
Fibre: ~2 kcal/g in EU calculations, 0–4 kcal/g in the US (treated as part of carbs)

A label saying 250 kcal per serving says nothing about composition — for that you need the breakdown below.

Total fat, saturated fat, trans fat

The fat block usually has:

Total fat — all fats combined per serving
Saturated fat — a subset, mostly from animal sources and tropical oils
Trans fat — partially hydrogenated oils (regulators banned or restricted them in most countries between 2018 and 2023, but traces still appear)
Mono- and polyunsaturated fat — optional

What to look for:

Total fat alone says little — context matters. A nut bar with 12 g fat is mostly mono- and polyunsaturated. A frosted granola bar with the same 12 g is refined oil plus added sugar.
Saturated fat: guidelines suggest under ~10 % of daily calories (roughly 20 g on a 2,000-kcal diet).
Trans fat: aim for 0 g. Watch for "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredients — US rounding rules let products with < 0.5 g per serving label as 0 g.

Carbohydrate, sugars, fibre

The carb block has nested fields:

Total carbohydrate — starch + sugars + fibre + sugar alcohols (US format), or starch + sugars only (EU; fibre listed separately)
Dietary fibre — soluble + insoluble combined
Total sugars — naturally occurring + added
Added sugars — a separate US line (mandatory since 2020); not required on EU labels but increasingly common
Sugar alcohols — polyols like erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol (occasionally listed)

The key distinction is total sugars vs. added sugars. A glass of milk has about 12 g sugars — all lactose, naturally occurring, 0 added. A glass of sweetened iced tea also has about 12 g — almost entirely added cane sugar. The total-sugars line treats them the same; the added-sugars line separates them.

Why fibre matters: it's a carbohydrate the body doesn't absorb, so it doesn't raise blood sugar. A bread with 25 g total carbs and 8 g fibre delivers about 17 g of net carbs — that's what affects glucose. See the glycemic index guide for how fibre changes the actual blood-sugar response.

Fibre is one of the most under-eaten nutrients — guidelines suggest 25–35 g/day for adults. The high-fibre filter in the Vnutri catalog sorts foods by fibre per 100 g.

Protein

Total protein per serving in grams. The US doesn't require % Daily Value for protein on most products (only when a protein claim is made). The EU lists protein but rarely as % of reference intake.

Protein quality (amino acid profile) never appears on labels. Animal sources and soy are complete; most single plant sources are not, but pairing them across the day closes the gap.

Sodium or salt

US labels show sodium in milligrams. EU and Russian labels show salt in grams. Conversion: salt = sodium × 2.5, so 1 g salt = 400 mg sodium.

The WHO guideline is under 2,000 mg sodium per day (≈ 5 g salt). Most people exceed it; about 70 % of sodium comes from processed foods and restaurant meals.

When scanning a label:

High per serving: > 600 mg sodium / 1.5 g salt
Low per serving: < 140 mg sodium / 0.35 g salt

"No added salt" and "unsalted" labels still contain whatever sodium is naturally in the food (celery, dairy, etc.). The low-sodium filter in the catalog sorts foods by sodium per 100 g.

% Daily Value (US) and % Reference Intake (EU)

The right-hand column on US labels shows % Daily Value (%DV) — how much one serving contributes to a 2,000-calorie reference diet.

Quick reading:

5 %DV or less = low for that nutrient
20 %DV or more = high for that nutrient

For nutrients you want more of (fibre, calcium, iron, potassium, vitamin D), look for ≥ 20 %DV per serving. For nutrients to limit (saturated fat, sodium, added sugars), keep most choices under 5–10 %DV.

The EU uses % Reference Intake (%RI) — same idea, slightly different base (8,400 kJ / 2,000 kcal adult diet). UK front-of-pack traffic lights translate %RI to red / amber / green per nutrient.

In Russia, % of daily intake appears selectively — usually only for a few vitamins and minerals when the manufacturer wants to declare a "source of X" claim.

Vitamins and minerals

The US mandates only four micronutrients on labels: vitamin D, calcium, iron, potassium. Anything else is optional.

The EU mandates none by default, but the same four plus B-vitamins, magnesium, and zinc appear when the manufacturer makes a claim ("source of vitamin C", "rich in iron").

EU claim thresholds (per 100 g):

"Source of X": at least 15 % NRV (Nutrient Reference Value)
"Rich in X" / "High in X": at least 30 % NRV

Labels rarely show a full profile. The Vnutri food catalog extends this — every product has 38 nutrients, including the full vitamin and mineral profile.

Ingredients list: what to actually scan

Ingredients are listed by weight, most to least. The first three ingredients are almost always > 50 % of the product.

What to scan:

First ingredient. If it's water, sugar, refined flour, or oil — adjust expectations.
Hidden sugars. Names: high-fructose corn syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, honey, agave, rice syrup, barley malt. Two or three of these scattered through the list usually means a significant total added-sugar load.
Partially hydrogenated oils. Still appear occasionally in coatings, frostings, and processed snacks. Avoid.
Refined seed oils (sunflower, soybean, canola, corn). Not harmful in moderation, but their dominance is one of the clearest "ultra-processed" signals.
Additives. Listed by E-number in the EU and Russia or by name in the US. Most are individually safe at the doses used; a few warrant attention (nitrites in cured meats, certain emulsifiers in higher amounts).
Allergens. Declared by law in most regions — usually in bold or a separate "Contains:" line.

A long ingredients list isn't automatically bad (think curry paste). A short list of recognisable foods is a useful signal.

Common label claims and what they actually mean

"Low fat" — US: < 3 g fat per serving. Often paired with added sugar to maintain flavour.
"Sugar-free" — US: < 0.5 g sugars per serving. May contain sugar alcohols or non-nutritive sweeteners.
"Light" / "Lite" — US: ⅓ fewer calories or 50 % less fat than the reference product. Check what it's being compared against.
"Whole grain" — US: at least 51 % of grain ingredients are whole grain. EU and Russia: looser regulation, sometimes only "made with whole grain". Read the ingredients.
"Natural" — Largely unregulated in either region. Means little.
"Organic" — Regulated. USDA Organic, EU Organic, and Russian «БИО» (ГОСТ 33980-2016) all require ≥ 95 % organic ingredients.
"No added sugar" — Strictly regulated in the EU. Means no sugar added during processing, but the food may still contain naturally occurring sugars (e.g. fruit juice concentrate).

When a claim sounds good, check the nutrition panel anyway. "Low fat" yogurt often has 20 g sugar per serving.

Differences between US, EU, UK, and Russian labels

US (FDA Nutrition Facts): per serving, %DV right column, added sugars on a separate line, sodium in mg.
EU (Regulation 1169/2011): per 100 g (mandatory) and per portion (optional), %RI, salt instead of sodium, fibre separate from carbs.
UK: EU format plus front-of-pack traffic lights (voluntary but widespread).
Australia / New Zealand: per serving + per 100 g, Health Star Rating (0.5–5 stars) on front of pack.
Russia (ТР ТС 022/2011): per 100 g, fewer mandatory micronutrients, ingredient list in the importer's language.

The per-100-g format on EU, UK, and Russian labels makes price-per-nutrient comparison easier across packages of different sizes. The US per-serving format makes meal planning easier but hides direct comparison.

How Vnutri shows nutrition data

The Vnutri food catalog reports nutrition per 100 g — consistent across 845+ items, harmonised from 8 curated food-composition databases (USDA FoodData Central, EU Ciqual, UK CoFID, AU AFCD, NO Matvaretabellen, DK Frida, CA CNF, FI Fineli). 38 nutrients per item, not just the four micronutrients mandated by US labels. You can filter by low sodium, high fibre, low glycemic index, and other clusters — combinations that aren't easy to spot from individual product labels in a store.

When you scan a real label, the catalog gives you a per-100-g baseline to compare against.

Frequently asked questions

How do I tell if a food is healthy from the label alone?

Scan four things in order: serving size, total sugars (and added sugars if listed), sodium, and the first three ingredients. If the serving is realistic, added sugars are ≤ 5 g, sodium is < 300 mg, and the first ingredients are recognisable whole foods, the product is probably fine. The label tells you composition; whether it fits your diet depends on what else you eat that day.

What's the difference between "total sugars" and "added sugars"?

Total sugars include both naturally occurring sugars (lactose in milk, fructose in fruit) and sugars added during processing (cane sugar, syrups, honey). Added sugars is the subset added during processing. Natural sugars in whole foods come bundled with fibre, protein, and micronutrients; added sugars don't. WHO guidelines target added sugars specifically — under 10 % of total calories, ideally under 5 %.

Why does the label say 0 g trans fat when the ingredients list partially hydrogenated oil?

US rounding rules let products with less than 0.5 g trans fat per serving label as 0 g. If "partially hydrogenated" appears in the ingredients, the product contains some trans fat — and if you eat multiple servings, the rounded zeros add up. Regulators banned most trans fats between 2018 and 2023, but traces can remain in coatings, frostings, and some baked goods.

What does % Daily Value actually mean?

%DV shows how much of a nutrient one serving contributes to a 2,000-calorie reference diet. It's an FDA reference, not a personal target. For most adults, 2,000 kcal is roughly right, but actual needs vary by sex, body size, age, and activity. Treat %DV as a comparison tool between products, not a strict budget.

Why is salt on EU labels and sodium on US labels?

Same information, different units. Salt (sodium chloride) is about 40 % sodium by weight. Multiply EU salt grams by 400 to get US-style sodium milligrams, or divide sodium by 2.5 to get salt grams.

How accurate are nutrition labels?

In the US and EU, labels are allowed a tolerance of about ± 20 % from the declared value for most nutrients (FDA "Class II" tolerance). In practice, industrial-scale products are usually close to label. Artisanal and small-producer foods vary more. Calorie-dense snacks deviate further than most, because small portion variations matter more in absolute terms.

Which ingredients are worth avoiding?

The short list with the clearest evidence:

Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats)
Sugary drinks with > 5 g added sugar per 100 ml
Processed meats with nitrites when eaten frequently and in large amounts

Beyond that, most individual additives are safe at the doses used. The more useful question is whether the food is a regular part of your diet — not whether any single ingredient is "bad."

References

US FDA. The New Nutrition Facts Label. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/new-nutrition-facts-label
European Commission. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.
ТР ТС 022/2011 «Пищевая продукция в части её маркировки» (Customs Union Technical Regulation).
World Health Organization. Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. 2015.
World Health Organization. Sodium intake for adults and children. 2012.