First Nations and Inuit Consumer Resources - Tear Sheet

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Nutrition Facts - To Help You Make Informed Food Choices

The "Nutrition Facts" table is easy to find, easy to read and on more foods.

* Information in the Nutrition Facts table is based on a specific amount of food. Compare this to the amount you eat.

** Use % Daily Value to see if a food has a little or a lot of a nutrient.

With the nutrition information on food labels you will be able to:

• Compare products more easily
• Determine the nutritional value of foods
• Better manage special diets
• Increase or decrease your intake of a particular nutrient

Nutrition Information on Food Labels

Use Nutrition Facts, the list of ingredients and nutrition claims to help you make informed food choices.

Nutrition Claims

The Government sets rules that must be met before a nutrition claim can be made on a label or advertisement.

A claim highlights a nutrition feature of a food. Look for one of these words:

• free
• low
• less
• more
• reduced
• lower
• very high
• light/lite
• source of
• high source of
• good source of
• excellent source of

A claim may also highlight a relationship between diet and disease. For example:

• A healthy diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
• A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Ingredient List

• Ingredients in the food are listed by weight from most to least.
• The ingredient list is a source of information for people with allergies or for people who avoid certain ingredients based on their beliefs.

Follow Canada's Food Guide and use Nutrition Facts to help you make healthy food choices.

Enjoy eating well, being active and feeling good about yourself.

To get more complete information about the nutrient value of a food look at the Nutrition Facts table:

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health (2003).
ISBN: 0-662-38266-8
Cat. no.: H49-177/1-2003E-1-HTML