Chapter 4: Nutrition Labels and Healthy Eating

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• Define and use the various methods for presenting nutrition recommendations.
• Describe steps towards building healthy eating patterns
• Interpret the Nutrition Facts labels found on food items
• Describe the purpose and use of recommendations such as healthy plate planners and food pyramids.

The Basics of Food Labels

In the United States, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act passed in 1990 and came into effect in 1994. In Canada, mandatory labeling came into effect in 2005. As a result, all packaged foods sold in the United States and Canada must have nutrition labels that accurately reflect the contents of the package. Understanding the labels will make you better equipped to understand what us in different packaged foods and to select the right foods the next time you go to the supermarket.

Packages are required to include a Nutrition Facts panel. The panel tells how many servings are in a package, kcals and amounts of certain nutrients in a serving, and how a serving fits into a recommended diet. Since May 2016, a new format for the Nutrition Facts panel has been phased in.^[1] This label reflects new scientific information and makes it easier for consumers to make informed food choices. Examples of the old and new versions are in Figure 4.1. Examining the differences can be a useful look into how new information, about food and how people eat it, can be used to improve communication. This interactive Nutrition Facts panel, available on the FDA website with explanations of many items listed, is useful for exploring.

Both versions may look familiar to you; expect to see fewer examples of the older version as time goes by. Important changes made to the label include:

• Increasing font size for serving size and Calories per serving, to call attention to them.
• Updating serving sizes to reflect how much consumers are actually eating (Figure 4.4).
• Removing “Calories from fat,” in recognition that total kcals, and not just fat kcals, are important.
• Including amount of “Added sugar” as a subcategory of “Total sugars” to indicate how much of the total sugar was added during the food processing. This will help consumers follow guidelines for limiting the amount of added sugar consumed in a day.
• Adding amounts of vitamin D and potassium to the micronutrient list, to reflect common deficiencies in the American diet.
• Removal of vitamins C and A, in recognition that deficiencies of those vitamins are not common.
• Showing milligram (mg) or microgram (µg, mcg) amounts of micronutrients, to help consumers plan daily intakes.

A summary of important changes is in Figure 4.2.

Reading the Label

The first part of the Nutrition Facts panel defines a serving size and tells how many servings are in the container. For example, a label on a box of crackers might tell you that twenty crackers equals one serving and that the whole box contains 10 servings. All other values listed are based on this serving size.

Remember that “Calories” means kilocalories (kcals)! This is followed by a list of selected nutrients and the amount of each nutrient in one serving.

The Percent Daily Value (% DV) on the right side indicates the percentage of the recommended amount of a nutrient that is found in one serving. It is calculated from the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA; see Chapter 2) of each nutrient based on a 2,000-kcal diet. This helps you determine if the food is a good source of a particular nutrient.

In general, a % DV under 5% is considered “low,” and a %t DV of 20% is considered “high.” For nutrients that many consumers wish to intake at low levels, such as saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, a low % DV is attractive. Alternatively, a high % DV of fiber or vitamins indicates a good source of these nutrients. Some RDAs/Daily Values are shown in Table 4.1. More information on serving sizes is shown in Figure 4.3.

Table 4.1 DVs Based on a Caloric Intake of 2,000 Calories (For Adults and Children Four or More Years of Age). Source: Human Nutrition, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human/CC BY 4.0 .

Food Component	Daily Value
Total Fat	65 g
Saturated Fat	20 g
Cholesterol	300 mg
Sodium	2,400 mg
Potassium	3,500 mg
Total Carbohydrate	300 g
Dietary Fiber	25 g
Protein	50 g
Vitamin A	5,000 (IU)
Vitamin C	60 mg
Calcium	1,000 mg
Iron	18 mg
Vitamin D	400 IU
Vitamin E	30 IU
Vitamin K	80 micrograms µg
Thiamin	1.5 mg
Riboflavin	1.7 mg
Niacin	20 mg
Vitamin B6	2 mg
Folate	400 µg
Vitamin B12	6 µg
Biotin	300 µg
Pantothenic acid	10 mg
Phosphorus	1,000 mg
Iodine	150 µg
Magnesium	400 mg
Zinc	15 mg

Additional information that is required by law on the consumer packaging includes^[2]:

• Name and address of the manufacturer, packager, or distributor
• Statement of identity, what the product actually is
• Net contents of the package: weight, volume, measure, or numerical count
• Ingredients, listed in descending order by weight

The Nutrition Facts panel provides information about the nutritional content of the product and allows shoppers to compare products. Because the serving sizes are included on the label, you can see how much of each nutrient is in each serving to make the comparisons. Knowing how to read the label is important because of the way some foods are presented. For example, a bag of peanuts at the grocery store may seem like a healthy snack to eat on the way to class. But have a look at that label. Does it contain one serving, or multiple servings? Unless you are buying the individual serving packages, chances are the bag you picked up contains at least eight servings, if not more.

According to a 2010 health and diet survey released by the FDA, 54 percent of first-time buyers of a product will check the food label and will use this information to evaluate fat, calorie, vitamin, and sodium content.^[3]. The survey also notes that more Americans are using food labels and are showing an increased awareness of the connection between diet and health. Having reliable food labels is a top priority of the FDA, which has a new initiative to prepare guidelines for the food industry to construct “front of package” labeling that will make it even easier for Americans to choose healthy foods. Stay tuned for the newest on food labeling by visiting the FDA website (https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods).

Claims on Labels

In addition to mandating how nutrients and ingredients are listed on food labels, the US FDA regulates claims that manufacturers may print on packages. For example, a manufacturer cannot claim that a food is fat-free or low-fat unless it meets certain definitions.

Nutrient claims describe how much of certain nutrients are in the food and must follow FDA guidelines. Low-fat indicates that the product has three or fewer grams of fat; low salt indicates there are fewer than 140 milligrams of sodium, and low-cholesterol indicates there are fewer than 20 milligrams of cholesterol and two grams of saturated fat.^[4]

Table 4.2 Common Label Terms Defined. Source: FDA, Label Claims for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements. Credit: Human Nutrition, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human/CC BY 4.0

Term	Explanation
Lean	Fewer than a set amount of grams of fat for that particular cut of meat
High	Contains more than 20% of the nutrient’s DV
Good source	Contains 10 to 19% of nutrient’s DV
Light/lite	Contains ⅓ fewer calories or 50% less fat; if more than half of calories come from fat, then fat content must be reduced by 50% or more
Organic	Contains 95% organic ingredients

A health claim is a statement that links a particular food with a reduced risk of developing disease. Health claims such as “reduces heart disease,” must be evaluated by the FDA before they may appear on packaging. All health claims must be substantiated by scientific evidence and must be presented using specific language. For a detailed list of approved health claims, read this article (https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/label-claims-conventional-foods-and-dietary-supplements).

While health claims must be backed up by hard scientific evidence, qualified health claims have evidence that suggesta that the food or nutrient is beneficial. Wording for this type of claim may look like this:

“Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. One serving of [name of food] provides [X] grams of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. [See nutrition information for total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol content.]”^[5]

Structure/Function claims are statements about the link between a food or nutrient and a normal structure or function of the human body. Food labels are permitted to claim that you may benefit from the food because it may boost your immune system, for example. These may not include claims of cures, treatment, or disease prevention, and there must be a disclaimer that the FDA has not evaluated the claim. Structure-function claims are not regulated by the FDA.^[4]

Allergy Warnings

Food manufacturers are required by the FDA to list on their packages if the product contains any of the eight most common ingredients that cause food allergies: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. The FDA does not require warnings that cross contamination may occur during packaging, however most manufacturers include this advisory as a courtesy. For instance, you may notice a label that states, “This product is manufactured in a factory that also processes peanuts.” If you have food allergies, it is best to avoid products that may have been contaminated with the allergen.

Estimating Portion Size

Have you ever heard the expression, “Your eyes were bigger than your stomach?” This means that you thought you wanted a lot more food than you could actually eat. Amounts of food can be deceiving to the eye, especially if you have nothing to compare them to. It is very easy to heap a pile of mashed potatoes on your plate, particularly if it is a big plate, and not realize that you have just helped yourself to three servings instead of one.

In many restaurants, portion sizes have increased and a typical meal contains more kcals than it used to (see Figure 4.4 for an example). In addition, our sedentary lives make it difficult to expend enough calories during normal daily activities. In fact, more than one-third of adults are not physically active at all.

As food serving sizes increase, it is important to understand the amount of food in a healthy serving. Some hints for estimating serving sizes are shown in Table 4.3. Some suggest using common items such as a deck of cards while others advocate using your hand as a measuring rule^[5].

Table 4.3 Determining Food Portions. Source: Human Nutrition, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human/CC BY 4.0 .

Food Product	Amount	Object Comparison	Hand Comparison
Pasta, rice	½ c.	Tennis ball	Cupped hand
Fresh vegetables	1 c.	Baseball
Cooked vegetables	½ c.		Cupped hand
Meat, poultry, fish	3 oz.	Deck of cards	Palm of your hand
Milk or other beverages	1 c.	Fist
Salad dressing	1 Tbsp.	Thumb
Oil	1 tsp.	Thumb tip

References

1. US Food and Drug Administration. (2013) Food Labeling Guide. https://www.fda.gov/media/81606/download. Accessed August 2, 2019.
2. US Food and Drug Administration. (2016) Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/changes-nutrition-facts-label. Accessed August 20, 2024.
3. US Food and Drug Administration. (2018) Consumer Research on Labeling, Nutrition, Diet and Health. https://www.fda.gov/food/social-and-behavioral-science-research-food/consumer-research-labeling-nutrition-diet-and-health Accessed August 20, 2024.
4. US Food and Drug Administration. (2018) Label Claims for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/label-claims-conventional-foods-and-dietary-supplements. Accessed August 2, 2019.
5. US Food and Drug Administration. (Jun 19 2019) FDA Announces Qualified Health Claims for Omega-3 Fatty Acids. US Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-announces-new-qualified-health-claims-epa-and-dha-omega-3-consumption-and-risk-hypertension-and. Accessed August 2 2019.

Building Healthy Eating Patterns

While our personal food choices are important, other factors that affect our food intake include sex, genetics, disabilities, income, religion, culture, education, lifestyle, age, and environment. All of these factors must be addressed by organizations and individuals that seek to make changes in dietary habits.

The social-ecological model (Figure 4.5) incorporates multiple factors and is used by health-promoting organizations, such as the USDA and the HHS to determine multiple avenues through which to promote healthy eating patterns, to increase levels of physical activity, and to reduce the risk of chronic disease for all Americans. Lower economic prosperity influences diet specifically by lowering food quality, decreasing food choices, and decreasing access to enough food. The USDA reports that an estimated 12.3 percent or 15.6 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they had insufficient funds to feed all family members at least some time during the year in 2016.^[1]

Recommendations for Optimal Health from the USDA

For many years, the US government has encouraged Americans to develop healthful dietary habits. In 1992 the Food Pyramid was introduced, and in 2005 it was updated. This became a recognizable symbol of healthy eating patterns. However, some felt it was difficult to understand; in 2011, the pyramid was replaced with MyPlate (Figure 4.6). The MyPlate program used a tailored approach to help design a healthy diet. The plate was divided according to food groups identified by a different color, showing the relative amounts of the food groups that a meal should include. The MyPlate plan gave general guidelines, including the recommendation to eat a diverse diet and in moderation.

 

 In 2026, to accompany the latest USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, yet another pyramid was introduced (Figure 4.7). The New Pyramid has an “inverted” appearance compared to previous pyramid iterations. In keeping with the 2025-2030 Guidelines’ departure from long-standing nutrition guidance, the new pyramid prominently features red meat and butter. The new pyramid does emphasize fresh whole foods, continuing the Guidelines’ broadly applauded de-emphasizing of highly processed foods. Some scientists have expressed concern that the new pyramid is confusing and even in some disagreement with parts of the Guidelines.^[3]

References

1. Food Security in the U.S. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/interactive-charts-and-highlights/. Updated: September 09, 2020. Accessed March 6, 2021.
2. US Department of Agriculture. MyPlate. https://web.archive.org/web/20241227004608/https://www.myplate.gov/ Archived from the original https://www.myplate.gov/. Accessed May 19, 2026.
3. Chamberlin G. “What changed in the new Dietary Guidelines & why it matters.” Center for Science in the Public Interest. https://www.cspi.org/cspi-news/what-changed-new-dietary-guidelines-why-it-matters. Published January 20, 2026. Accessed May 17, 2026.

Building a Healthy Plate: The Harvard Way

Nutrition experts at the Harvard School of Public Health collaborated with Harvard Health Publishing to create their version of a Healthy Eating Plate^[1], building upon the then-current MyPlate to provide more specific and scientifically accurate recommendations.

• Half your meal should consist of a variety of vegetables and fruits. Limit or eliminate fried potato options such as french fries.
• Stick with whole grains. Limit refined grains, like white rice and white bread; they are rapidly metabolized into blood sugar.
• Get protein from sources like fish, poultry, beans, and nuts. Limit red meat, as well as bacon and other processed meats.
• Use healthy oils (like olive and canola oil) for cooking and making dressings.
• Choose low-sugar and no-sugar drinks such as water, tea, or coffee. Juice is high sugar and consumption should be limited.
• Limit milk and dairy to 1-2 servings per day.
• Stay active: move and exercise.

Building a Healthy Plate: Choose Nutrient-Dense Foods

Planning a healthy diet using the Harvard Healthy Plate is not difficult. According to the graphic, about half of your plate should be covered by fruits and vegetables, about one-quarter by whole grains, and about one-quarter by protein. Dairy products should be low-fat or non-fat. Water and other low-to-no sugar beverages are an important part of healthy eating. The ideal diet gives you the most nutrients within the fewest calories. This means choosing nutrient-rich foods.

Select a variety of protein foods to improve nutrient intake and promote health benefits. Include an array of protein sources in your diet, such as nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, poultry, soy, and seafood. The recommended consumption amount for seafood for adults is two 4-ounce servings per week. When choosing meat, select lean cuts. Be conscious to prepare meats using little or no added saturated fat, such as butter.

If you enjoy drinking milk or eating milk products, such as cheese and yogurt, choose low-fat or nonfat products. Low-fat and nonfat products contain the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole-milk products, but with less fat and calories. Calcium, an important mineral, is also available in lactose-free and fortified soy beverage and rice beverage products. You can also get calcium in vegetables and other fortified foods and beverages.

Oils are essential, but the type and amount are important. Plant-based oils are generally preferable to animal fat.

Discretionary Calories

When following a balanced, healthful diet with many nutrient-dense foods, you may consume enough of your daily nutrients before you reach your daily kcal limit. The remaining kcals are described as discretionary, to be used according to your best judgment. These calories may be obtained from eating an additional piece of fruit, adding another teaspoon of olive oil on a salad or butter on a piece of bread, adding sugar or honey to cereal, or consuming an alcoholic beverage.

The number of discretionary calories increases with physical activity level and decreases with age. For most physically active adults, the discretionary calorie allowance is, at most, 15 percent of the recommended caloric intake.

Table 4.4 Sample Menu Plan Containing 2,000 Calories

Meal	Calories	Total Meal/Snack Calories
Breakfast
1 scrambled egg	92
with sliced mushrooms and spinach	7
½ whole-wheat muffin	67
1 tsp. margarine-like spread	15
1 orange	65
8 oz. low-sodium tomato juice	53	299
Snack
6 oz. fat-free flavored yogurt	100
with ½ c. raspberries	32	132
Lunch
1 sandwich on pumpernickel bread	160
with smoked turkey deli meat,	30
4 slices tomato	14
2 lettuce leaves	3
1 tsp. mustard	3
1 oz. baked potato chips	110
½ c. blueberries, with 1 tsp. sugar	57
8 oz. fat-free milk	90	467
Snack
1 banana	105
7 reduced-fat high-fiber crackers	120	225
Dinner
1 c. Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, feta)	150
with 5 Greek olives,	45
with 1.5 tsp. olive oil	60
3 oz. grilled chicken breast	150
½ c. steamed asparagus	20
with 1 tsp. olive oil,	40
with 1 tsp. sesame seeds	18
½ c. cooked wild rice	83
with ½ c. chopped kale	18
1 whole-wheat dinner roll	4
with 1 tsp. almond butter	33	691
(Total calories from all meals and snacks = 1,814)
Discretionary calorie allowance: 186

References

1. Harvard Health Publishing. Healthy Eating Plate. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/healthy-eating-plate N.D. Accessed May 17, 2026.
2. Harvard Health Publishing Staff. “Harvard to USDA: Check out the Healthy Eating Plate.” https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/harvard-to-usda-check-out-the-healthy-eating-plate-201109143344 Published February 28, 2020. Accessed May 17, 2026.

The Whole Nutrient Package Versus Disease

A healthy diet incorporating seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease and deaths attributable to cancer. At the start of the 21^st century, the WHO found that insufficient fruit and vegetable intake was linked to approximately 14 percent of gastrointestinal cancer deaths, about 11 percent of heart attack deaths, and 9 percent of stroke deaths globally. At the time, the WHO estimated that, overall, 1.7 million deaths were avoidable by increasing fruit and vegetable intake. These types of preventable deaths place an economic, social, and mental burden on society. In 2003, the WHO and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations launched a campaign to promote fruit and vegetable intake worldwide. ^[1]

Antioxidant Variety in Food Provides Health Benefits

Fruits and vegetables are good sources of compounds associated with good health. Because they contain many natural compounds, whole foods may provide health benefits that supplements do not. As research continues, we will learn more about why this is so. A review in the July–August 2010 issue of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity concludes that the plant-food benefits to health are attributed to two main factors—that nutrients and phytochemicals are present at low concentrations in general, and that the complex mixtures of nutrients and phytochemicals provides additive and synergistic effects.^[2]. In short, don’t overdo it with supplements and make sure you incorporate a wide variety of nutrients in your diet.

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals promotes health. Consider these diets:

Mediterranean diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables are abundant in this diet, and the cultural identity of the diet involves multiple herbs and spices. Moreover, olive oil is the main source of fat. Fish and poultry are consumed in low amounts and red meat is consumed in very low amounts. An analysis of twelve studies involving over one million subjects published in the September 2008 issue of the British Medical Journal reports that people who followed the Mediterranean diet had a 9 percent decrease in overall deaths, a 9 percent decrease in cardiovascular death, a 6 percent decrease in cancer deaths, and a 13 percent reduced incidence of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The authors of this study concluded that the Mediterranean diet is useful as a primary prevention against some major chronic diseases.^[3]

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet). The DASH diet is an eating plan that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat. Fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, whole-grain foods, fish, poultry, and nuts are emphasized while red meats, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages are mostly avoided. Results from a follow-up study published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension suggest the low-sodium DASH diet reduces oxidative stress, which may have contributed to the improved blood vessel function observed in salt-sensitive people (between 10 to 20 percent of the population).^[4]

Diets high in fruits and vegetables. An analysis of The Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study reported that for every increased serving of fruits or vegetables per day, especially green leafy vegetables and vitamin C-rich fruits, there was a 4 percent lower risk for heart disease.^[5]

Americans Typically Eat Fewer than the Recommended Servings of High Quality Food-Group Foods

An article in the January 2009 issue of the Medscape Journal of Medicine reports that fewer than one in ten Americans consumes the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, which is between five and thirteen servings per day. According to this study, the largest single contributor to fruit intake was orange juice, and potatoes were the dominant vegetable.^[6]

Improving Fruit and Vegetable Intake at Home and in Your Community

Eating more fruits and vegetables can make you think better, too. According to a study published in 2009 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, no matter your age, eating more fruits and vegetables improves your brain function.^[7]

The CDC has developed seven strategies to increase American’s intake of fruits and vegetables.^[8]

• Support local and state governments in the implementation of a Food Policy Council, which develops policies and programs that increase the availability of affordable fruits and vegetables.
• In the food system, increase the availability and affordability of high-quality fruits and vegetables in underserved populations.
• Promote farm-to-where-you-are programs, which is the delivery of regionally grown farm produce to community institutions, farmers markets, and individuals.
• Encourage worksites, medical centers, universities, and other community and business establishments to serve more fruits and vegetables in cafeterias and onsite eateries.
• Support schools in developing healthy food messages to students by incorporating activities such as gardening into curricula.
• Encourage the development and support of community and home gardens.
• Have emergency food programs, including food banks and food rescue programs, increase their supply of fruits and vegetables.

The seven strategies developed by the CDC are based on the idea that improving access to and availability of fruits and vegetables will lead to an increase in their consumption.

References

1. Global Strategies on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health. World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20110915123829/http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/fruit/en/index.html Archived from the original: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/fruit/en/index.html. Accessed August 20, 2024.
2. Bouayed, J. and T. Bohn. Exogenous Antioxidants—Double-Edged Swords in Cellular Redox State: Health Beneficial Effects at Physiologic Doses versus Deleterious Effects at High Doses. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2010; 3(4), 228–37. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952083/?tool=pubmed. Accessed November 22, 2017.
3. Sofi F, et al. Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Health Status: Meta-Analysis. Br Med J. 2008; 337, a1344. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2533524/. Accessed November 22, 2017.
4. Al-Solaiman Y, et al. Low-Sodium DASH Reduces Oxidative Stress and Improves Vascular Function in Salt-Sensitive Humans. J Hum Hypertens. 2008; 12, 826–35. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2783838/?tool=pubmed. Accessed November 22, 2017.
5. Joshipura KJ, et al. The Effect of Fruit and Vegetable Intake on Risk for Coronary Heart Disease. Ann Intern Med. 2001; 134(12), 1106–14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11412050. Accessed November 12, 2017.
6. Kimmons J, et al. Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Adolescents and Adults in the United States: Percentage Meeting Individualized Recommendations. Medscape Journal of Medicine. 2009; 11(1), 26. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654704/?tool=pubmed. Accessed November 22, 2017.
7. Polidori MC, et al. High Fruit and Vegetable Intake Is Positively Correlated with Antioxidant Status and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Subjects. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2009; 17(4), 921–7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19542607. Accessed November 22, 2017.
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strategies to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases: The CDC Guide to Strategies to Increase the Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2011. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/21639/cdc_21639_DS1.pdf. Accessed August 20, 2024.

Attributions

Adapted by Pattie S. Green, Ph.D., and Jonathan E. Pottle, Ph.D., Tacoma Community College from Human Nutrition by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human Nutrition Program which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Specifically, the following sections were adapted here:

• Discovering Nutrition Facts
• Building Healthy Eating Patterns
• MyPlate Planner