The amount of certain nutrients in a food now will be expressed in two ways - in terms of the amount by weight per serving and as a percentage of the Daily Value, a new nutrition reference tool. Nutrient amounts and percentages of the Daily Value describe the content of the particular food inside the package.

By using the % Daily Values, you can easily determine whether a food contributes a lot or a little of a particular nutrient. And you can compare different foods with no need to do any calculations. A high percentage means the food contains a lot of a nutrient and a low percentage means it contains a little. Look to see whether the nutrients most of us need more of (such as carbohydrates, dietary fiber and certain vitamins and mierals) have high percentages. Look to see whether the nutrients most of us need to limit (such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and - for some people - sodium) have low percentages. The goal is to choose foods that together give you close to 100 percent of each nutrient for a day, or average about 100 percent a day over a few days. For example, if your goal is 2,000 calories a day, your total fat intake would be no more than 65 grams, the upper limit recommended for a 2,000-calorie daily diet. If the food you're preparing has 16 grams of fat per serving and shows the % Daily Value for total fat per serving at 25 percent, then you know that all the other foods you eat that day should total 75 percent or less of the Daily Value for total fat (or 49 grams of fat). If your daily calorie goal is 2,500 calories, your daily value for fat would be higher.

The % Daily Values on the nutrition panel are based on 2,000 calories a day. Of course, not everyone eats this amount daily; some eat more, some less. Your daily calorie needs depend on many factors, such as age, height, weight and activity level. The 2,000 calorie diet is about right for most moderately active women, teenage girls and sedentary men. Many older adults, children and sedentary women need fewer calories a day, perhaps only 1,600.