Healthy Heart, Healthy Family: A Community Health Worker's Manual for the Filipino Community

Session 4 Handout Read the Nutrition Facts Label for Sodium!

Download Read the Nutrition Facts Label for Sodium! (397k) handout.

Nutrition Facts labels tell you what you need to know about choosing foods that are lower in sodium. Here is a Nutrition Facts label for frozen peas and carrots.

Example: Frozen peas and carrots

• Amount Per Serving
  Label says: 3 servings
  The nutrient amounts are for one serving. So, if you eat more or less than a serving, you need to add or subtract nutrient amounts. For example, if you eat 1 cup of peas and carrots, you are eating two servings.
• Nutrients
  Label says: 125mg
  Listed are the amounts of sodium in one serving. These amounts are given in milligrams (mg).
• Serving Size and Number of Servings
  The serving size is ½ cup. The package contains about three servings. Remember, the numbers on the label are for one serving, not the whole container.
• Percent Daily Value
  The Percent Daily Value helps you compare products and quickly tells you if the food is high or low in sodium. Choose products with the lowest Percent Daily Value for sodium: 5 percent or less is low, and 20 percent or more is high.

The Choice Is Yours—Compare!

Frozen peas and carrots are lower in sodium than canned. Read the labels, and choose foods that are lower in sodium to help keep your heart strong.

• Frozen peas and carrots
  One serving (½ cup) of frozen peas and carrots has 125 mg of sodium and 5 percent of the Daily Value for sodium.
• Canned peas and carrots
  One serving (½ cup) of canned peas and carrots has 360 mg of sodium and 15 percent of the Daily Value for sodium. That is almost three times the sodium found in a serving of frozen peas and carrots.

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Information on this page is taken from the English print version of “Healthy Heart, Healthy Family: A Community Health Worker's Manual.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, NIH Publication No. 08-3674, Originally Printed 1999, Revised May 2008.

Last Updated March 2012