Healthy Bites

Reading Food Labels

It's a no wonder so many of us have problems sticking to a diet – food companies make it nearly impossible to understand what we're eating. But Sharon Reitman from Smart Meals shows us how to read food labels and figure out the percentage of fat is in a product.

First you should know that:

1 gram of fat = 9 calories

1 gram of carbs = 4 calories

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

Next we'll give you an example of how to figure out the fat percentage:

            Total calories: 100

Fat content: 2 grams

            2 grams of fat x 9 calories = 18 calories from fat

            18 calories from fat/100 total calories = Approximately 20 percent fat

Reitman recommends staying at around 20 percent of fat.

See if you can do at home with your food items. How much percentage fat are you eating?