A little information can be empowering; too much, less so. And one of the aims of the Nutrition Fact panel you'll find on almost every food item you can buy is to present a whole host of information about food in a clear and intelligible way.

In some ways, the Nutrition Facts panel is a triumph of information design, telling consumers pretty much everything that's in a food item, including its ingredients and nutrients. Of course, by its nature the label boasts a lot of information, and even savvy nutrition label readers can learn a lot from the FDA's guide to understanding the Nutrition Facts label. Here are some tips from the site:

• Pay attention to "Serving Size." This section indicates both the suggested size of a single serving AND the number of servings in the package. The label's info's about the "Amount Per [Single!] Serving," but sometimes one serving doesn't quite map on to how much you'd actually eat.
• Check calories. A typical daily diet is 2000 calories, and the FDA's general advice is that 40 calories per serving of food is low, 100 is moderate, and 400 is high.
• Look at nutrients. Stuff you should limit, like fat, cholesterol, and sodium is listed first; stuff you should increase like fiber, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C comes last.

If you'd like to learn much more about the details of reading a nutrition label, click here to visit the FDA's website.