Nutrition Facts labels are great for helping consumers make healthier eating choices, but oftentimes these can be misleading and hard to understand.
This is where the “% Daily Value” (% DV) comes in handy — and it’s the secret magic trick behind the 5/20 rule for understanding nutrition labels. The % DV shows how much of a nutrient is in one serving of food, based on the amount (in grams, milligrams, or micrograms) of that nutrient recommended per day.
So for example, the Daily Value for saturated fat is 20 grams – that is the maximum amount someone should have in a day. If a serving of something has 10 grams – which is half the daily allowance – the label would say 50% DV.
But what does that actually mean? The FDA explains, that as a general rule: “5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is low, and 20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is high”.
So if you want a product low in added sugar, for example, 5% DV is good; if you want an item high in fiber, 20% DV or more is good. It shows how to find more of the nutrients you want to consume more of and less of the ones you would like to eat less.
In general, Americans are advised to eat more fiber, potassium, and calcium (look for those 20s!) and less sugar, saturated fat, and sodium (look for those 5s!). But tailor it to your own diet — and that’s it. That’s the 5/20 rule, not so hard right?
