Carbs by the numbers

Carbs By The Numbers

Reading food labels is one way to find out the amount of carbs you consume in your food. Here’s how:

1. Look at the serving size. This tells you how much is in one serving of this item.
2. Next, look at the total carbohydrate. This tells you how many grams of carbs are in one serving of this item.

This container holds three servings. So if you ate the whole container, you would eat three times the carbs. 

Other ways to find the amount of carbs in food include

• Apps for smartphones or computers
• Websites 
• Educational booklets

What is a Carb serving

One serving of carbohydrate is measured as 15 grams. It is the amount of carbohydrates in 1 slice of bread. A food that contains 15 grams of carbohydrate is called “one carb serving”.

Each of these items has 15 grams of carbs:

• 1 small piece fresh fruit (113 g)
• ½ cup canned or frozen fruit
• 1 slice bread (28 g) or 1 (15 cm) tortilla
• ½ cup oatmeal
• ⅓ cup cooked pasta or rice
• 4 to 6 crackers
• ½ English muffin or hamburger bun
• ½ cup black beans or starchy veggies
• ¼ large baked potato (85 g)
• ⅔ cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 small cookies
• 2-inch square brownie or cake without frosting
• ½ cup ice cream or sherbet
• 1 Tbsp syrup, jam, jelly, sugar, or honey
• 2 Tbsp light syrup
• 6 chicken nuggets
• 1 cup soup
• ¼ serving medium fries