Please explain the nutrition chart found on food labels, in terms of fat content. How much fat is acceptable?

The FDA has set up very specific food labeling requirements that food processors must abide by. On the nutrition panel they must declare the serving size and the nutritional content for that serving. On nutrition labels of food intended for consumption by adults, the fat is displayed as total fat -- the amount of fat in gram weight contained in that one serving -- and the percentage of your daily fat intake that should be. This is based on an average diet of 2000 calories.

One gram of fat has nine calories. The FDA states that an adult should have 65 grams or less of fat per day, or in other words 9 calories X 65 grams. This equals 585 calories from fat per day. This is equal to 30 percent of your daily calorie intake. (585 fat calories divided by 2000 calories = 30 percent.

The total fat figure listed on the label is the total of all the different fats, including saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and mono-unsaturated fat. Because the US population is concerned about their intake of fat, and saturated fat in particular, the FDA has required a breakdown of the fat content for display on the nutrition panel. So, under the total fat section of the label, you will also see how much of that fat is saturated. The FDA has also recommended that not more than 10 percent of your calorie intake come from saturated fat, so they also display what percent of that daily value is supplied by that serving of food.

The FDA has wisely recognized that babies actually need plenty of fat in their diet, and so have disallowed the breakdown of fat, or the display of cholesterol on nutrition panels of food intended for consumption by babies and toddlers. This is in an attempt to keep parents from feeding their children a diet too low in fat.