How to Read Food Labels: Nutrition Facts, Serving Sizes, and Misleading Claims Explained
The nutrients to look for, the numbers that mislead, and how to make smarter grocery decisions
Understanding how to read a food label is one of the most practical and powerful skills you can develop for protecting long-term health. Yet for many people, nutrition labels are confusing, misleading, or falsely reassuring—especially when packaging relies on words like healthy, natural, or all-natural to influence perception.
In practice, many products marketed as “better for you” still contain excessive added sugars, refined oils, artificial additives, or low-quality ingredients that quietly undermine metabolic health, gut function, and inflammation balance (2). The disconnect between marketing claims and ingredient reality is one of the biggest challenges consumers face when navigating modern grocery stores.
This article is designed to help you cut through that noise. Rather than focusing on every possible toxin or additive, this guide teaches you how to evaluate food labels accurately, understand what truly matters on the Nutrition Facts panel, and recognize common marketing tactics that distort reality—so you can make confident, informed grocery decisions.
For a deeper breakdown of hidden additives, preservatives, and chemical loopholes used in modern foods, see:
→ Hidden Toxins in Food Labels: How to Identify Harmful Ingredients (Part 1)
How to Read a Nutrition Facts Label Correctly
When you turn a package over, the Nutrition Facts panel presents structured data—but those numbers only become meaningful when interpreted correctly. A standard food label is divided into several sections, each offering a different piece of information about nutritional content and potential metabolic impact (1).
The key is understanding how these sections work together, rather than evaluating any single number in isolation.
Serving Size: The Most Commonly Misunderstood Section
Serving size is the foundation of the entire Nutrition Facts label. Every calorie, nutrient amount, and percentage listed is based on one serving—not the entire package.
Manufacturers often manipulate serving sizes to make products appear lower in calories, sugar, or sodium than they truly are. If you consume more than one serving—which is common—you must multiply every value accordingly (7).
This practice is one of the most common ways people unknowingly exceed recommended intakes of sugar, refined carbohydrates, and sodium, even when they believe they are eating “moderately.”
Calories vs. Nutrient Quality
Calories represent energy—not nutritional value.
Two foods with identical calorie counts can have dramatically different effects on blood sugar regulation, inflammation, satiety, and metabolic health depending on ingredient quality and nutrient density (8).
Highly processed foods often provide calories without meaningful nourishment, while whole foods deliver energy alongside fiber, minerals, antioxidants, and bioavailable vitamins that actively support metabolic and cellular health.
Nutrients: What to Prioritize—and What to Limit
The nutrients section of a food label becomes useful only when viewed in context. Rather than focusing on isolated numbers, it is more informative to look for overall patterns that signal food quality.
Ingredients and nutrient profiles that commonly indicate lower-quality foods include:
Added sugars
Refined carbohydrates
Highly processed oils
When consumed regularly—especially in packaged foods—these ingredients contribute to insulin dysregulation, chronic inflammation, and increased metabolic stress (5,6).
→ How Sugar Affects the Body: 8 Reasons to Reduce Added Sugar
→ The Ugly Truth About Seed Oils and 5 Healthy Alternatives
Percent Daily Value (%DV): Why It’s Often Misleading
The Percent Daily Value (%DV) is intended to show how much a nutrient contributes to a standard daily intake, but it has important limitations.
%DV values are based on generalized population estimates and do not account for individual differences in metabolism, activity level, gut health, nutrient absorption, or health status (3). As a result, %DV should be viewed as reference information, not a definitive indicator of whether a food supports health.
Why the Ingredients List Matters Most
While the Nutrition Facts panel provides numbers, the ingredients list reveals food quality.
Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, meaning the first few ingredients make up the majority of the product. Foods with long ingredient lists, vague terms, or unfamiliar chemical names are typically more processed and less nutrient-dense.
When No Label Is Required, There’s Nothing to Decode
One of the simplest ways to reduce confusion around food labels is to choose foods that do not require a label at all.
Single-ingredient whole foods—such as fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, and natural fats—are not required to carry Nutrition Facts labels because they are not processed. When food remains close to its natural state, there is no ingredient list to interpret, no serving size manipulation, and no marketing language to decode.
This does not mean every packaged food is harmful, but it highlights an important principle: the more a food requires explanation, the more scrutiny it deserves.
Building meals around whole, minimally processed foods naturally reduces exposure to added sugars and refined ingredients while supporting nutrient density and metabolic health (3,8).
→ Gut Health & Digestive Restoration
→ Detoxification & Environmental Medicine
Food Label Ingredients to Be Aware Of
Many packaged foods contain ingredients that do not support long-term metabolic or digestive health. While not every additive is inherently harmful in isolation, regular exposure to highly processed ingredients increases cumulative dietary stress, disrupts metabolic signaling, and places added burden on detoxification pathways (4,6).
Ingredients that warrant closer scrutiny include:
Added sugars in various forms (syrups, concentrates, maltodextrins)
Refined and industrial seed oils, often used for shelf stability rather than nutrition
Flavor enhancers and artificial additives that can override natural satiety cues
Preservatives designed to extend shelf life but not support gut or immune health
When these ingredients appear early in the ingredient list, they typically make up a significant portion of the product and are best minimized in a health-supportive diet.
Misleading Food Label Claims to Watch For
Food packaging frequently relies on marketing language that sounds reassuring but has little regulatory or nutritional significance. These claims are often used to create a health halo around products that remain highly processed.
Common examples include:
“Natural”
“Multigrain”
“No cholesterol”
“Made with whole grains”
These terms do not guarantee ingredient quality, metabolic compatibility, or nutrient density. Products using such claims may still contain refined sugars, processed oils, or synthetic additives. For this reason, the ingredient list—not the front label—should guide purchasing decisions (2,4).
Nutrition Facts That Support Health
Modern diets are increasingly low in nutrient density due to soil depletion, industrial food processing, and reliance on packaged convenience foods. As a result, many individuals fail to meet baseline requirements for nutrients essential to metabolic, immune, and neurological health (3).
Nutrients commonly under-consumed include:
Dietary fiber, critical for gut integrity and blood sugar regulation
Vitamin D, essential for immune signaling and hormonal balance
Magnesium, involved in hundreds of enzymatic reactions
B vitamins, necessary for energy production and nervous system function
Essential fatty acids, required for cellular membranes and inflammation balance
Meeting nutrient needs is best approached through whole, minimally processed foods and individualized assessment, rather than relying on fortified products that often contain synthetic or poorly absorbed forms (8).
While recognizing common nutrient gaps is important, how those nutrients are delivered matters just as much as whether they appear on a label. Many packaged foods attempt to address deficiencies through fortification, but the presence of added vitamins or minerals does not necessarily reflect improved food quality, nutrient bioavailability, or meaningful metabolic support.
The Problem With Fortified Foods
Fortified foods are often marketed as a solution to modern nutrient deficiencies, but adding isolated vitamins or minerals to processed foods does not restore true nutrient density. In many cases, fortification is used to compensate for nutrient losses caused by refining, processing, and industrial food production rather than to improve overall food quality.
Common issues with fortified foods include:
Synthetic nutrient forms that are less bioavailable or poorly utilized by the body
Imbalanced nutrient ratios, which can interfere with absorption of other vitamins and minerals
Lack of necessary cofactors, such as enzymes, minerals, and phytonutrients required for proper metabolism
False reassurance, leading consumers to believe a highly processed product is “healthy” because nutrients were added back
For example, B vitamins added to refined grains do not replicate the complex nutrient matrix found in whole foods, and vitamin D or calcium fortification does not address underlying issues such as fat malabsorption, gut dysfunction, or impaired mineral utilization.
Fortified foods also fail to account for individual variability. Nutrient needs differ based on digestion, stress, toxin exposure, metabolic health, medications, and genetics. A standardized, one-size-fits-all fortification approach cannot correct personalized deficiencies—and may, in some cases, worsen imbalances.
Rather than relying on fortified processed foods, a more effective strategy is to prioritize whole, minimally processed foods and assess nutrient status on an individual level. This allows deficiencies to be addressed with appropriate food choices and targeted support when necessary, rather than masking deeper issues with added nutrients.
→ Why You’re Not Seeing Results from Your Supplements: Bioavailability Explained
Understand Your Nutrient Needs and Make Confident Food Choices
Learning how to read food labels puts you back in control of your health—but knowledge is only the first step. Everyone’s nutritional needs are different, influenced by lifestyle, stress, metabolic health, gut function, toxic load, genetics, and overall physiology.
Trying to overhaul your diet all at once can feel overwhelming and often leads to frustration or burnout. A more effective approach is to understand what your body actually needs and make targeted, sustainable changes over time.
At Denver Sports & Holistic Medicine, we help patients translate food label knowledge into personalized nutrition strategies. Through in-depth consultations and advanced functional lab testing, we identify nutrient deficiencies, metabolic imbalances, and underlying factors that influence how your body responds to food.
From there, we create a clear, step-by-step plan tailored to you—covering nutrition, lifestyle support, and targeted supplementation when appropriate.
If you’re ready to move beyond confusion and make food choices with confidence, you can:
Request a free 15-minute consultation with Dr. Martina Sturm to discuss your goals and determine the next best steps for your health.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reading Food Labels
What is the most important part of a food label to read first?
The most important place to start is the serving size, because every calorie, nutrient, and percentage on the label is based on that amount. Misleading serving sizes are one of the most common ways packaged foods appear healthier than they actually are.
Are calories the best way to judge whether a food is healthy?
No. Calories measure energy, not food quality. Two foods with the same calorie count can have very different effects on blood sugar, inflammation, and metabolism depending on their ingredients and nutrient density.
Why can the Percent Daily Value (%DV) be misleading?
Percent Daily Value is based on generalized population estimates and does not reflect individual needs, health status, or nutrient absorption. It should be viewed as reference information rather than a definitive indicator of food quality.
Why does the ingredients list matter more than marketing claims?
The ingredients list shows what a product is actually made of, listed in order of weight. Marketing terms like “natural,” “healthy,” or “multigrain” are not tightly regulated and can distract from poor ingredient quality.
Is it better to choose foods without a nutrition label?
Often, yes. Single-ingredient whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, meats, and natural fats do not require labels because they are not processed. When a food has no label, there is nothing to decode—making it one of the simplest ways to reduce confusion.
Are all packaged foods unhealthy?
No. Not all packaged foods are problematic, but they require closer evaluation. The goal is not to eliminate packaged foods entirely, but to understand how to read labels so you can distinguish higher-quality options from highly processed ones.
What nutrition facts should I prioritize when reading labels?
Rather than focusing on one number, look at overall patterns. Prioritize foods with minimal added sugars, meaningful fiber, and simple ingredient lists made from recognizable whole-food sources.
How can I know which nutrients my body needs more of?
Nutrient needs vary based on lifestyle, digestion, stress, metabolism, and overall health. Personalized evaluation—rather than relying on fortified processed foods—helps identify which nutrients you may be lacking and why.
Resources
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)- How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health- Understanding Food Labels
National Institutes of Health (NIH)- Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Environmental Working Group (EWG)- EWG’s Food Scores: How to Read Food Labels
Harvard Health Publishing- The Truth About Added Sugar
PubMed- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Risk of Obesity and Metabolic Disease
PMC- Serving Size and Portion Size: How Food Labels Influence Consumption
Journal of Nutrition- Nutrient Density Versus Energy Density in Foods