Reading food labels can be tricky if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, or looking at. The percent daily value listed on the right of all food labels lets you know what percent out of the recommended daily intake of each nutrient you are consuming in that specific food. 

Some categories listed on the food label should be consumed in small amounts, such as sodium, while you may want to increase your intake in other categories, such as fiber. 

Though not an end-all test, a quick way to read the percent daily values is to use the 5/20 rule. This says that if the %DV is less than 5% there is a low amount of this nutrient, while if the %DV is greater than 20% there is a high amount of this nutrient. This can help you quickly pick foods to eat to help you with increasing or decreasing the amount of nutrients you are consuming.