Introduction: Type 1 diabetes, in general, manifests itself in childhood or adolescence and the treatment consists of insulin administration, medication use, food planning, and physical activity. Also, Type 2 diabetes often develops during adulthood and, in less severe cases, can be controlled through dietary planning and physical activity. Thus, therapies for both types include food planning and the consumption of healthy foods for health promotion. This depends on adequate information, which is provided through nutrition labeling, providing the diabetic population with the knowledge and analysis of industrialized products. Objective: To analyze the reading habit and the understanding of the nutritional information contained in the labels of processed foods by individuals with type 1 or 2 diabetes. Methods: Between May and September 2020, an observational study was carried out with an approach quantitative, which counted on the participation of 55 individuals with type 1 or 2 diabetes. The data collection was carried out from an online questionnaire that contained 12 questions about the interpretation of the labels of two industrialized foods commonly consumed by this public. Results: The sample consisted mostly (83.6%) of individuals over 60 years of age, which is divided into patients with type 1 (60%) and type 2 diabetes (40%). As for eating habits, 72.7% make use of processed foods daily, however, 69.1% usually read the labels on the packages before consuming them. Regarding the proposed label analysis: 25.5% of the individuals stated that the order of the ingredients presented on the packaging refers to the decreasing order of the constituents. The interpretation of the class of carbohydrates maltodextrin and maltitol was correct by 81.8% and 58.2%, respectively. Finally, 38.2% of the participants correctly classified polyols, sorbitol, and maltitol. Conclusion: Most of the individuals questioned had the habit of reading the labels on food packaging before consuming them and managed to identify variants for the designation of carbohydrate. However, despite the great majority of people with diabetes making regular use of industrialized products, only a small percentage knew the correct disposition of the ingredients contained in the ingested products.

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