Using food labels

Many foods contain labels that tell you the number of grams of carbohydrate in one serving.

Labels also give you information about the fat in the product.

1. Serving size

All of the information on the label is based on the serving size. If you eat double the serving size, the nutrients will be doubled as well.

2. Servings per package

The number of servings contained in the package.

3. Total carbohydrates

The total grams of carbohydrate in one serving. This includes carbohydrate from sugar.

4. Dietary fiber

If a serving has 5 or more grams of fiber, the grams of fiber can be subtracted from the total carbohydrate grams.

Convert grams to carbohydrate choices

Find the total grams of carbohydrate in the serving of food on this chart to convert the grams of carbohydrate to the number of carbohydrate choices.

Grams of carbohydrate	Carbohydrate choices
0 to 5	0
6 to 10	1/2
11 to 20	1
21 to 25	1 1/2
26 to 35	2
36 to 40	2 1/2
41 to 50	3
51 to 55	3 1/2
56 to 65	4
66 to 70	4 1/2
71 to 80	5

Related Links

Understanding carbohydrates

Meal plan worksheet

Learning healthy eating, physical activity and stress management skills

Gestational diabetes

Allina Pregnancy Care

First published: 11/27/2006
Last updated: 11/27/2006

Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts