Ingredients. Serving size. Fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrate breakdowns. Nutrients. And footnotes in teeny-tiny fonts. Consumers encounter these details on dozens of food labels both in supermarkets and standing at their kitchen cupboards. But what do they mean? And how can they inform purchase choices/menu options? And what are their health implications?

The Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce is holding a Mar. 30 event to help answer those questions — and others — about packaged foods and beverages.

Doylestown Health resource Madison Chapman is the evening’s gustatorial guide. As a Certified Health Education Specialist, she understands the implications of the data listed on labels and can explain them clearly.

For example, confusion can surround information such as “sell by,” “use by,” and “best if used by” designations.

The first is more for the store itself, recommending when an unsold item should exit a shelf. Consumer checks on these dates can help ensure that a product is at its prime.

“Use by” shows when the product will be at its freshest and tastiest.

“Best if used by” is an indicator of when the product’s quality is at its peak.

Other common information on the outside of a package includes:

• Percent Daily Value, a serving’s component of a recommended 2,000-calorie intake day
• Explanation of light, low-calorie, low-carb, and organic descriptors
• A standard footnote of recommended dietary advice

Chapman’s presentation will illuminate the details of all of them. It begins at 5:00 p.m., followed by a networking opportunity that runs until 7:00 p.m.

Registration for this explanation of food labels (and the networking opportunity following it) is online at the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce.