Label Lingo:
Unraveling the Mystery
For years, nutrition claims have been a source of confusion, but there is finally help for food shoppers navigating nutritional labels. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set certain labeling rules that food producers must abide by. Here are some of the regulated terms to date and what they guarantee.
| Fat-free: |
Fewer than 0.5 grams per serving |
| Calorie-free: |
Fewer than 5 calories per serving |
| Sugar-free: |
Fewer than 0.5 grams per serving |
| Low-fat: |
3 grams or less per serving |
| Low-saturated fat: |
1 gram or less per serving |
| Low-sodium: |
140 milligrams or less per serving |
| Very low sodium: |
35 milligrams or less per serving |
| Low-cholesterol: |
20 milligrams or less, and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving |
| Low-calorie: |
40 calories or less per serving |
| Lean: |
Fewer than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving (ground beef remains an exception) |
| High: |
One serving contains 20% or more of the Daily Value of a particular nutrient |
| Reduced: |
Contains at least 25% less of an ingredient, such as sodium or fat, than the regular version |
| Light: |
The product contains one-third fewer calories as or half the fat of the original product, or, in the case of "light in sodium," the sodium content has been reduced by at least 50%. |
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