SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/diab-label-serving-first

When reading a Nutrition Facts label, what should you check first?

Serving size, because every number on the label is based on it.

  1. Calories
  2. Total carbohydrate
  3. Serving size ✔

Why: All the nutrition information is for one serving. If you eat more than the serving size, you get extra calories, carbs and other nutrients, so start there.

Huh, didn't know that: FDA says the serving size reflects what people typically eat, and it is not a recommendation of how much to eat.

The dad joke
Why does the label list serving size first? It likes to set expectations.
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Sources

  1. Reading and Understanding Food Labels (ADA) https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/making-sense-food-labels
  2. How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label (FDA) https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label

Test yourself in the game

Health BasicsA bag of chips has 2 servings, 11 grams of carbs each. You eat the whole bag. How many carbs?Health BasicsOn a Nutrition Facts label, what does 'Total Carbohydrate' include?Health BasicsCounting carbs, should you add the 'Added Sugars' grams on top of Total Carbohydrate?

That's stuff everyone should know.