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
