Food Label Reading Worksheet (Printable, With Answer Key)

A food label reading worksheet is a short practice sheet for the Nutrition Facts label. This one walks through four checks on two hypothetical labels: the serving size and how many servings you eat, sodium, dietary fiber, and added sugars. For sodium, fiber and added sugars, the % Daily Value (%DV) shows whether one serving is low or high in that nutrient: FDA’s general guide is that 5% DV or less per serving is low and 20% DV or more is high. [1] The worksheet below has an answer key and a printable PDF version.

This page is general education for adults, not individual nutrition advice. Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet, which FDA uses as a general guide; your calorie needs may be higher or lower. [1] The worksheet does not set a personal target for any nutrient. If you follow a diet prescribed by your health care team, use the targets they gave you.

Open the food-label worksheet

The four label checks at a glance

FDA lists sodium and added sugars among the nutrients Americans generally eat too much of, and dietary fiber among the nutrients they generally do not get enough of. [1] When you compare two foods with %DV, FDA advises making sure the serving sizes are the same. [1]

The food label reading worksheet

Labels A and B are hypothetical. Their values are invented for practice, show only the lines this worksheet uses, and do not describe any real product. The Daily Values are FDA’s: sodium 2,300 mg, dietary fiber 28 g and added sugars 50 g. [2]

Download the printable worksheet and answer key (PDF, 3 pages, 63 KB). The PDF has writing lines and a blank table for your own label.

Questions

1. Serving size. Write the serving size from Label A and from Label B. Is one serving the same amount of food on both labels?
2. Servings you eat. You pour 2 cups of Product A. How many servings is that? Write the sodium (mg and %DV), dietary fiber (g and %DV) and added sugars (g and %DV) in your bowl.
3. Sodium. FDA’s general guide: 5% DV or less per serving is low and 20% DV or more is high. Classify the sodium in one serving of A, one serving of B, and your 2-cup bowl of A.
4. Dietary fiber. Which label lists more dietary fiber per serving? Is that a high source by the same 5% and 20% guide?
5. Added sugars. Label B says “Total Sugars 14g, Includes 12g Added Sugars.” How many grams of its sugars are not added? Is 24% DV for added sugars low or high?
6. Check the math. Using FDA’s Daily Values (sodium 2,300mg, dietary fiber 28g, added sugars 50g), show that Label A’s sodium is 10% DV and its fiber is 25% DV, and that Label B’s added sugars are 24% DV.
7. Your own label. Pick a packaged food at home. Record its serving size, servings per container, the servings you usually eat, and the sodium, dietary fiber and added sugars (amount and %DV) for that many servings.

Answer key

1. Serving size. Label A: 1 cup (40g). Label B: 2/3 cup (55g). No. A serving of B weighs 15 grams more than a serving of A, so per-serving numbers do not describe the same amount of food. FDA advises making sure the serving size is the same before you compare products. [1]
2. Servings you eat. 2 servings, so double every number: sodium 460mg (20% DV), dietary fiber 14g (50% DV), added sugars 12g (24% DV). [3]
3. Sodium. One serving of A (10% DV): neither low nor high. One serving of B (5% DV): low. Two cups of A (20% DV): high. [1]
4. Dietary fiber. Label A: 7g, 25% DV, which is high (20% DV or more). Label B lists 3g, 11% DV: neither low nor high. [1]
5. Added sugars. 14g minus 12g leaves 2g that are not added sugars. 24% DV is high (20% DV or more). For Label A, 9g minus 6g leaves 3g. [4]
6. Check the math. 230 ÷ 2,300 = 0.10, or 10%. 7 ÷ 28 = 0.25, or 25%. 12 ÷ 50 = 0.24, or 24%. You do not have to do this at the store; the %DV column does the math for you. [1] [2]
7. Your own label. There is no single right answer. Multiply each number by the servings you eat, then use the 5% and 20% guide: more often choose foods higher in %DV for dietary fiber and lower in %DV for sodium and added sugars. [1]

Using the worksheet with a real label

• Dual-column labels. Some packages that could be eaten in one sitting or several show two columns, one per serving and one per package or unit, so you can see the totals for the whole package. [1] [3]
• The word “includes.” “Includes” before Added Sugars means the added sugars are already counted in Total Sugars. Subtract to find the sugars that were not added. [4]
• Honey, maple syrup and table sugar. Labels on single-ingredient sugars and syrups list the %DV for added sugars, and the gram amount per serving may be given in a footnote. [4]
• Total sugars have no %DV. No recommendation has been made for the total amount of sugars to eat in a day, so only added sugars carry a %DV. [4]
• Trade-offs across the day. FDA notes you can use %DV to balance a food that is high in a nutrient you want to limit with foods that are low in it at other times of the day, so the day’s total stays below 100% DV. [1]

When a food has no Nutrition Facts label

USDA FoodData Central is USDA’s source of food composition data. Its Foundation Foods data are analytical values for commodity and minimally processed foods, updated each April and October. Its SR Legacy data are historical values whose final update was in 2018. Its Branded Foods data are label information supplied by commercial food brands and updated monthly. [5]

Limits of these data. SR Legacy data are historical and were last updated in 2018, and Branded Foods entries are label data supplied by food companies. [5] Reference entries describe a food in general, not the specific item you have, so when a food has a Nutrition Facts label, use that label.

What this worksheet does not cover

The worksheet practices four lines of the label. It does not cover calories, saturated fat, vitamins and minerals, or the ingredient list, and it does not set a personal target for any nutrient. It is not a tool for diagnosing or managing a health condition. More printable tools will be listed in Nutrition and practical resources.

Common questions

What is a good %DV for sodium?

FDA’s general guide is that 5% DV or less of sodium per serving is low and 20% DV or more is high. FDA also lists sodium among the nutrients to get less of. [1]

Is the serving size how much I should eat?

No. FDA says serving sizes reflect the amount people typically eat or drink and are not a recommendation. [3]

Why do total sugars have no %DV?

No recommendation has been made for the total amount of sugars to eat in a day, so there is no Daily Value for total sugars. Added sugars have a Daily Value of 50 grams. [4]

How much dietary fiber is 100% DV?

28 grams. FDA describes it as an amount to eat at least on most days. [1]

Are the labels in the worksheet real products?

No. Labels A and B are hypothetical, with invented values, so you can practice without comparing real brands.

Open the food-label worksheet

Sources and limitations

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label. Content current as of March 5, 2024. Consumer guidance based on a 2,000-calorie general guide; not individual dietary advice.
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. Content current as of March 5, 2024. Lists the current Daily Values; they are reference amounts, not personal targets.
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Serving Size on the Nutrition Facts Label. Content current as of March 5, 2024. Explains how serving sizes are set; does not say how much any person should eat.
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label. Content current as of March 4, 2026. Covers how added sugars are labeled; does not evaluate any product.
5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: FoodData Central. Home page describing the data types and how often each is updated. Values are reference data, not measurements of a specific item.