The agency that dictates the information that food manufactures must disclose about their products' ingredients asked consumers for their input on ways to improve the look and the contents of food nutrition labels. Their concern was that the public be able to make decisions on weight management programs that are better informed than possible at this time, with the information now provided on food labels.

If you're lucky enough to be rail thin, with an abundance of energy, great bone density and low cholesterol, perhaps you've never tried to decipher the outside of one of the cans or packages of food stuffs you bring into your home for consumption. If, however, you're watching your weight, your calorie count, your sugar or fat intake, or your cholesterol, chances are you've struggled unsuccessfully to find out what those labels really mean to your nutrition.

Let's try to decipher them together.

The first important factor that you'll need to know is that labels are based on an assumption of a 2000-calorie per day eating habit. This is hardly accurate for all. Your weight, your age, your physical activity and even your gender all contribute to how much you consume - and how much you should consume.

The ingredients listed on the food label are listed by their prominence, with the most prevalent ingredient listed first. The last ingredient listed on the label may actually be included in only miniscule amounts.

For those who are watching their weight (is there anyone out there that isn't?) the next tip is crucial. Unless you've picked up something that can't be divided (one wrapped cookie perhaps) the food whose label you're perusing is divided up into several predetermined "servings." These servings may not agree at all with the amount you would heap on to your plate as your portion of the food inside the can, bottle or package. Check carefully to see what the manufacturer is considering a serving. If the label indicates 100 calories per serving and you put a cup of that yummy stuff on your plate but the serving stated on the label is half a cup you've doubled your calorie intake without even realizing it. Unless you read the label carefully!

Just because it's lower in calories than that other item or brand you thought about purchasing doesn't mean it's going to better help you diet however. You also have to carefully peruse the fat content. Once you've found this you also need to find the part of the label that indicates with is saturated and unsaturated fat. Beware of the saturated. Your heart hates too much of this.

Terms you'll need to understand include free (as in calorie free.) This isn't literally true. A "free" item may, in fact, include up to 5 calories per serving (in the case of calorie free) or 5 grams per serving (in the case of sugar or fat free.) The term light means either one half the calories or one third less the fat. This doesn't necessarily mean good for you, though. It depends on how rich in each the alternative is.

When it comes to using food labels as part of your nutritional guidance, it does clearly pay to read the fine print.