Nutrition facts label

A sample nutrition facts label, with instructions from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration[1]
Nutrition facts placement for two Indonesian cartons of milk

The nutrition facts label (also known as the nutrition information panel, and other slight variations[which?]) is a label required on most packaged food in many countries, showing what nutrients and other ingredients (to limit and get enough of) are in the food. Labels are usually based on official nutritional rating systems. Most countries also release overall nutrition guides for general educational purposes. In some cases, the guides are based on different dietary targets for various nutrients than the labels on specific foods.

Nutrition facts labels are one of many types of food labels required by regulation or applied by manufacturers. They were first introduced in the U.S. in 1994,[2] and in the U.K. in 1996.[3]

  1. ^ "Nutrition Facts Label Images for Download". Fda.gov. 2011-09-23. Archived from the original on 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  2. ^ "The origins and evolution of Nutrition Facts labeling". Food Dive. Archived from the original on 2022-06-12. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  3. ^ Rayner, Mike; Scarborough, Peter; Williams, Carol (2004). "The origin of Guideline Daily Amounts and the Food Standards Agency's guidance on what counts as 'a lot' and 'a little'". Public Health Nutrition. 7 (4): 549–556. doi:10.1079/PHN2003552. ISSN 1368-9800. PMID 15153261. S2CID 12280359.