NPR 1A: What Nutrition Labels Really Tell Us About Our Food

July 25, 2023

Imagine you’re walking down the snack aisle in your grocery store and you pick up a box of Cheez-Its. Normally, you don’t pay attention to nutrition labels, but today you turn the box around.

You understand the calorie number in big bold letters, but beneath it, there are words like, “Polyunsaturated fat” and “Monounsaturated fat.” There is a list of percentages under daily value. You’ve been told to watch your sodium intake. Eleven percent of your daily value doesn’t sound high, but the 250 milligrams beside it does. Frazzled, you put the box of Cheez-Its down and move on.

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