Title: Interpret food packaging and nutrition facts labels.
Course: Foundations of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (18001-I) > Section: Investigating Basic Scientific Skills and Principles in Food Products and Processing

Interpretation should include

- examining a variety of nutrition facts labels
  - nutrition information (e.g., nutrients, amount of each nutrient, percentage of minimum daily requirement for each nutrient)
  - serving size and number of servings per package
- packaging labels
  - ingredients
  - allergens
  - expiration, sell-by, best-by, use-by, and freeze-by dates
  - preparation instructions
  - storage instructions.

Process/Skill Questions:

- Who benefits from information on nutrition facts labels?
- Which products are required to have nutrition facts labels?
- Which major allergens are required to be identified?
- Why are footnotes not required on all packages?
- What is the difference between best-by, sell-by, use-by, freeze-by, and expiration dates?
- Why does the federal government change its requirements for nutrition facts labels?
- How can a consumer evaluate a nutrition facts label in relation to his/her own nutritional needs?

Teacher Resource:

- Compliance FAQs: Packaging and Labeling in the US, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)