Definitions Of Claims On Food Labels

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Definitions Of Claims On Food Labels

The following definitions will help you, when reading nutrition labels, to understand exactly what is in the foods your are buying for your family: Free – the product contains no or only a trivial amount of one or more of the following: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories.

Calorie free – fewer than 5 calories per serving

Cholesterol free – less than 2 mg of cholesterol & 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving

Fat free – less than 0.5 g per serving.

Sodium free – less than 5 mg of sodium per serving Low – this means a large quantity of the food can be eaten without exceeding the Recommended Dietary Value for the nutrient

Low calorie – contains 40 calories or less in a serving

Low cholesterol – 20 mg or less and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving


Low fat – contains 3 g or less per serving

Low saturated fat – contains 1 g or less per serving

Low sodium – contains 140 mg or less per serving

Very low sodium – contains 35 mg or less per serving

Lean – used in the description of the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats. Less than 10 g fat, 4.5g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving for every 100 g of product .

Extra Lean – less than 5 g fat, less than 2 g saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving for every 100 g of product.

Good source – this means that one serving has 10 to 19 percent of the RDA for a particular nutrient.

High – used when food contains 20% or more of the RDA for a nutrient in one serving.

Light – this term can mean two things:
a.) A nutritionally altered product has 1/3 fewer calories or 1/2 the fat of the referenced food
b.) The sodium content of a low calorie, low-fat food has been decreased by 50%

Less – a food, altered or not, contains 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the referenced food.

More – a serving contains a nutrient that is at least 10% of the Daily Value more than the referenced food. This term also applies to “fortified”, “enriched”, and “added”,when the food has been altered.

Percent fat free – the product with this claim must be low-fat or fat-free. It reflects the amount of fat in 100 grams of the product. For example: 95% fat free would have 5 g fat for every 100 g of product.

Reduced – The nutritionally altered product has 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular, or referenced, product