Diabetes and Food Labels

Using the food label to help with food choices

Under regulations from the Food and Drug Administration of the Department
of Health and Human Services and the Food Safety and Inspection Service
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the food label offers more complete,
useful and accurate nutrition information than ever before.

With today’s food labels, consumers get

• nutrition information about almost every food in the grocery store
  
• distinctive, easy-to-read formats that enable consumers to more quickly
  find the information they need to make healthful food choices

• information on the amount per serving of saturated fat, cholesterol,
  dietary fiber, and other nutrients of major health concern
• nutrient reference values, expressed as % Daily Values, that help
  consumers see how a food fits into an overall daily diet
• uniform definitions for terms that describe a food’s nutrient content–such
  as "light," "low-fat," and "high-fiber"–to
  ensure that such terms mean the same for any product on which they appear
  

• claims about the relationship between a nutrient or food and a disease
  or health-related condition, such as calcium and osteoporosis, and fat
  and cancer. These are helpful for people who are concerned about eating
  foods that may help keep them healthier longer.
• standardized serving sizes that make nutritional comparisons of similar
  products easier
• declaration of total percentage of juice in juice drinks. This enables
  consumers to know exactly how much juice is in a product.

http://www.diabetestestingcenter.com