How to Make Your Own Nutrition Facts Label

A nutrition label provides the amount of calories, fat, minerals and vitamins in foods. They can be seen on virtually any food picked up in the grocery store. Now, it is possible to create and print nutrition lables for new recipes or existing foods using some free websites. When the final label is generated, it looks like the one on the back of packages, jars and boxes in the store.

Instructions

Find the Facts

1

Gather the facts for the food you want to create a label. Visit NutritionData.com.

2

In the header of the page is a search bar that allows you to type in the name of the food you seek. You may want to use the drop-down menu next to the search field, to select the food's category. This eliminates the possibility of the search returning too many variations of a food, like with bananas or apples. Click the "Search" button.

3

Select the food you want and click on it in the list. Read the descriptions carefully; a similar variation of the food you searched may exist.

4

Change the serving size on the food's page to fit your needs. A drop-down menu is located under the food's name. Scroll down to see full nutrition information, such as caloric content, vitamins and fats.

5

Print this information or open a new window tab in your browser so you can easily refer back to it when entering the numbers into the nutrition label creator.

6

Additionally, you can create an account with NutritionData.com to easily refer back to your searches. You can do this by scrolling back up to the top of the page. To the right of the food's name is an orange box that says "Add to my Foods." This takes you to another section of NutritionData.com's site where you create an account.

Create the Label

7

Have your food's nutrition data handy. Print it out from NutritionData.com for easy entry into the label creator. You can also create a new tab within your browser so you can flip back and forth between NutritionData.com and the label creator.

8

To create the label, visit shopncook.com.

9

A page with a variety of fields should load. This is where you enter the nutrition data to create the final label.

10

Select whether this label follows a "long format" or "short format." A long format label includes the daily recommended amounts of fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrates at the bottom of the label, along with the FDA's notice that "Nutrition data is based on a 2000 calorie diet." Choosing the short format only includes the notice at the bottom.

11

Enter the corresponding numbers from NutritionData.com into the fields. When entering the vitamins, you may want to change the format to percentages, since this is the way these facts are usually shown on nutrition labels. You can do this by selecting the "percentages" radio button in the Vitamins and Minerals section. All fields must have a number, even if the nutrient is not in the food or not available to report. In this case, enter "0."

12

When finished, push the "Create Label" button. You are taken to a page where the label is generated and displayed. Here, you can print the label for further use. If you want to manipulate it further, follow the steps in the next section.

Manipulate the Label

13

If you want to re-size the label or import into another file or document, you need to bring it over to an imaging program, make the changes and save it to your computer. The easiest way to do this is through a free program on all Windows computers called Microsoft Paint.

14

Have the browser window open that shows the label and make it fully visible. On your keyboard, push the CTRL button in the lower-left corner. Hold it down while also pushing "Prt Screen," a key in the upper right corner. After holding them both for a couple seconds, release.

15

Press the "Start" menu button in the lower-left corner of the screen. Open "All Programs," "Accessories," then "Microsoft Paint." If you use Windows 7, you can also type Microsoft Paint into the search box after opening the "Start" menu.

16

Once inside Microsoft Paint, hold down the CTRL key and press C and V at the same time. This is the shortcut to paste something from the clipboard. An image of your Windows desktop screen, with the nutrition label in the browser, should appear.

17

Left-click and hold down the mouse in the upper-left corner of the nutrition label. Drag the mouse to the upper-right corner, then down to the lower-right. The label should appear highlighted. Do this until the whole box is highlighted; this will be cropped. Click the "Crop" button within the toolbar in Microsoft Paint, or navigate to the Image menu and click "Crop." The box should now appear cropped. Navigate to "File," then "Save As." Type a name for the file and change the Image Format below to JPG. Click "Save."