Nutrition labels are located on all food packages. These labels inform customers of important information about the food item being consumed. For example, a nutrition label states how many servings are in one package.

Another fact on a nutrition label is the amount of calories per recommended serving. A calorie is a unit of energy. The more calories a food item has, the longer it takes to burn and the more energy it provides. However, when a person eats more calories than needed, the energy gets stored as fat for later use.

Finally, nutrition labels also denote the major macromolecules - carbohydrates, lipids (fats), and proteins - present in the food item being consumed. Macromolecules are essential for most, if not all, cellular processes in organisms. For this lab specifically, carbohydrates are responsible for short-term energy in cells, while lipids (fats) are responsible for long-term energy in cells. As a result, carbohydrates should have less calories to burn than lipids (fats).