What is the name of the tool that provides specific nutrient recommendations?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietary Guidelines) provides advice on what to eat and drink to meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease. It is developed and written for a professional audience, including policymakers, healthcare providers, nutrition educators, and federal nutrition program operators. The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) work together to update and release the Dietary Guidelines every five years. Each edition of the Dietary Guidelines reflects the current body of nutrition science. 

To learn more about the Dietary Guidelines development process, visit DietaryGuidelines.gov. 

News & Announcements

Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating with New Move Your Way Resources!

Posted on November 29, 2022

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion developed the Move Your Way campaign in 2018 to share key recommendations from the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Now HHS is releasing new Move Your Way resources for consumers that highlight simple steps people can take to get active and eat healthy. Share the new resources with your audiences today!

Our Initiatives

Current Dietary Guidelines: 2020–2025

The Dietary Guidelines helps all Americans choose healthy eating patterns — and it’s a key resource for policymakers and health professionals.

Read the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 on DietaryGuidelines.gov

Dietary Guidelines Toolkit for Health Professionals

ODPHP has developed updated Dietary Guidelines resources for health professionals — including handouts to share with patients. 

Check out the updated toolkit. 

Check out the Scientific Report on DietaryGuidelines.gov

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 Development Process

Updating the Dietary Guidelines is a multi-year, multi-step process. To learn more, go to DietaryGuidelines.gov.  

A Nutrition Food Label can be a quick tool for making informed food choices that can contribute to a healthy diet.

As I stroll down the aisles of the grocery store, I tend to notice how many people pick up an item and flip to the back to begin reading the food label. A Nutrition Facts Label can provide a wealth of information and help us to recognize what we are putting in our body. As you begin the habit of reading labels, you will subconsciously start to make better choices.

The FDA provides requirements for foods under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and its amendments. Food labeling is required for most prepared foods, such as breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts and drinks. Nutrition labeling for raw produce (fruits and vegetables) and fish is voluntary. We refer to these products as “conventional” foods. Current law requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations to list calorie content information for standard menu items on restaurant menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards. Other nutrient information, including total calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein, would have to be made available in writing upon request. The Act also requires vending machine operators who own or operate 20 or more vending machines to disclose calorie content for certain items. The Nutrition Facts Label is making changes that will be required by all manufacturers by Jan. 1, 2020; however, the majority of labels already adhere to these changes.

Nutrition Facts Labels include nutrients we should limit such as fat, saturated fat, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium and added sugar. They also list nutrients important to include in a healthy diet including dietary fiber, vitamin D and minerals such as calcium, potassium and iron. The old label required vitamin A and C to be included which are now being replaced by vitamin D and potassium. 

Tips for reading the Nutrition Facts Label:

• Look at the serving size and the number of servings per package. All calories and nutrients listed are based on the serving size of the food. The new label also uses bold font on the calories and serving size to better catch the consumer’s eye.
• The footnote located at the bottom of the label describes the percent Daily Value (DV). The DV tells consumers how much a nutrient in the serving size of that food is contributing to the recommended daily amount for that specific nutrient. Also, an ingredient list is below the footnote that provides the ingredients in the food. This list is presented in order, from most to least in that product.
  • It is important to direct your attention to the top nutrient section that includes fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars. These nutrients should be limited. Aim for eating products that have 0 percent trans fat and less than 5 percent saturated fats. Generally 5 percent or less is low and 20 percent or more is high.
  • It is also important to direct your attention to is the bottom nutrients section that includes dietary fiber, vitamin D, potassium, calcium and iron. Getting enough of these nutrients is important, can improve your health and may reduce the risk of some diseases and conditions. The new label not only displays daily percentages of the nutrients included, but it also shows the actual amount of that specific nutrient present in the serving size.

An interactive food label with specific recommendations for each nutrient is available on the Michigan State University Extension website. The nutrition facts label provides an opportunity to make a healthier choice when shopping for a food or beverage.

MSU Extension offers nutrition education classes for people of all ages including specific programs for youth, adults, parents, and seniors.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

What are the nutrition tools?

Which tools can help identify foods that contain nutrients in recommended amounts?

What are tools used in diet planning?

What does the MyPlate tool used to represent?