When it comes to reading food labels, what’s most important?

What it means: This term means that 1 serving of a food contains 10% to 19% of the Daily Value for a certain nutrient. Other terms that may be used: More, enriched, fortified, extra, plus, or added.

Food labels provide more than just nutrition facts, though. They also tell you what’s in a packaged food (i.e., the ingredients). Some food labels also state which country the food came from, whether the food is organic, and certain health claims.

• Serving size. Check to see how many servings the package contains.
• Calories. How many calories are in one serving?
• Carbohydrates.
• Total fat.
• Saturated fat.
• Trans fat.
• Cholesterol.
• Sodium.

5 tips for decoding food labels

1. Size matters. Serving size is always the first item on the label.
2. Look for fat: the good, the bad, and the really bad.
3. Is it worth its salt?
4. Figure out the fiber.
5. Stay away from added sugars: Sugar, no matter what it’s called, contains almost no nutrients other than pure carbohydrate.

The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has your back. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act—which provides authority for FDA’s consumer-protection work—requires that labels on packaged food products in interstate commerce not be false or misleading in any way.

Unfortunately, Nutrition Facts labels are not always factual. For starters, the law allows a pretty lax margin of error—up to 20 percent—for the stated value versus actual value of nutrients. In reality, that means a 100-calorie pack could, theoretically, contain up to 120 calories and still not be violating the law.

Nutritional facts are FDA approved so we all trust what the label displays. However, nutritional facts can actually be misleading. The law allows a margin of error up to 20 percent. The FDA has never established a system where companies must comply with the law it’s expected to be self-enforced according to usnews.com.

When researchers tested the food served in 29 chain restaurants and 10 frozen meals sold in supermarkets, they found that their calorie content averaged considerably more than the stated values. Not all restaurants were inaccurate, and a few even stated that their foods contained more calories than they actually did.

In all, only one calorie count was accurate — a Skinnylicious chicken salad sandwich from the Cheesecake Factory. All the restaurants and their trade association say that most calorie counts are as accurate as possible and tested extensively to make sure.

The technician ground up and scientifically analyzed the food to find out how many calories were in each. The results showed that the menus can sometimes be inaccurate. At McDonald’s, the 540-calorie sandwiches came out just slightly higher at 581 calories and 552 calories.

You can’t count on the calorie counts The researchers found that Lean Cuisine shrimp and angel hair pasta, for example, had 28 percent more calories than stated on the package, while Weight Watchers lemon herb chicken piccata had 21 percent more calories than listed.

Sticking with the lighter versions (such as Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Smart Ones) is usually a safe bet. But there are no guarantees. You still need to read the label to be certain. If you’re watching sodium, be especially careful about frozen meals.

• Favorites Swedish Meatballs.
• Marketplace Chicken Fried Rice.
• Comfort Chicken Marsala.
• Favorites Alfredo Pasta with Chicken&Broccoli.
• Marketplace Sweet Sriracha Braised Beef.
• Comfort Chicken in Sweet BBQ Sauce.
• Marketplace Roasted Chicken&Garden Vegetables.
• Comfort Chicken Carbonara.