The food label contains a lot of valuable information, but it can be tough to sift through all of it if you don't know what you're looking for. So grab a food package from your pantry as you read through the information below and learn to determine how a food can fit into your healthy eating plan.

Today's food labels offer the following information:

SERVING SIZE: The amount of food customarily eaten at one time. It is expressed in both common household and metric measures. For example, one cup, two tablespoons, one ounce or one slice or fraction (i.e." ¼ pizza"). Serving sizes are also standardized, which makes nutritional comparisons of similar products easier. But pay close attention to the amount listed, since what you're used to eating may be much more than the typical serving size.

SERVINGS PER PACKAGE: This is an important aspect of the food label because it gives you an idea of how many servings the package contains and how many you should be eating in one serving.

CALORIES: This refers to the amount of calories in a single serving.

CALORIES FROM FAT: This converts the total number of fat grams into fat calories. The reason why this information is valuable is that, ideally, you should choose foods with a big difference between the total number of calories and calories coming from fat. The bigger the gap, the fewer calories in the food item coming from fat.

TOTAL FAT: This section lists the total number of fat grams from all types of fat - saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and trans. It is recommended that you consume no more than 30% of your calories from fat.

SATURATED FAT: This is the "bad fat" that has been linked to increased cholesterol levels and heart disease. The amount of saturated fat listed on the label is PART OF - not in addition to - the total fat in one serving. Aim to keep your saturated fat intake at less than 10% of your daily calories.

SODIUM: The label calls it sodium, but most people know it as salt. The daily intake recommended for most healthy individuals is less than 2,400 milligrams. Watch the sodium content of highly processed foods like frozen meals, condiments, and snack foods.

TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE: Total carbohydrate reveals the amount of all types of carbohydrates, both simple (sugar) and complex (starch) in a single serving of food. This can help diabetics who are using carbohydrate counting as a means of blood sugar control.

DIETARY FIBER: Fiber can play a role in lowering cholesterol and weight loss, to mention just two of its benefits. Choose foods with at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving, and aim for a total intake of 25 to 35 grams per day.

PROTEIN: This tells you how many grams of protein are contained in one serving of the product.

% DAILY VALUE: This column tells you the percentage one serving provides of the recommended levels of each nutrient included on the label. These values are based on estimates for someone eating a 2000-calorie eating plan and therefore, may not apply to you.

VITAMINS & MINERALS: This line will tell you the percentage of recommended intakes of specific vitamins and minerals that one serving of the food item will provide, but it is only an estimate.

Finally, make sure to take a look at the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed on the food label in descending order of their weight in the product. Limit your intake of foods that have oil, sugar, or salt as one of the first few ingredients in the list.

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