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Label Definitions

Grocery Shopping

New regulations define what terms may be used to describe the level of a nutrient in a food and how they can be used.

 

FREE

Containing no amount of or only negligible amounts

Calorie Free Less than 5 calories per serving

Cholesterol Free

Less than 2mg of cholesterol & 2g or less of saturated fat per serving

Fat Free Less than 0.5g of fat per serving
Sodium Free Less than 5mg per serving
Sugar Free Less than 0.5g per serving
IMITATION

Not "the real thing"-may be nutritionally inferior (lower in protien, vitamins or minerals)

LOW May be used on foods that can be eaten frequently without exceeding dietary guidelines

Low Fat

3g or less per serving

Low Saturated Fat 

No more than 1g per serving

Low Sodium

Less than 140mg per serving

Very Low Sodium

Less than 35mg per serving

Low Cholesterol

Less than 20mg per serving

Low Calorie

40 calories or less per serving

REDUCED

Nutritionally altered and containing 25% less of a nutrient (such as fat) or 25% less calories than the regular version

Reduced/Less Cholesterol

Exception to above: At least 25% less and 2g less of saturated fat per serving than regular version

LEAN and EXTRA LEAN

Used to describe the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats

Lean

Less than 10g of fat, less than 4g of saturated fat, and less than 95mg of cholesterol per serving

Extra Lean

Less than 5g of fat, less than 2g of saturated fat, and less than 95mg of cholesterol per serving

LITE or LIGHT

The calories in nutritionally altered food have been reduced by at least a third of what they were in the regular product or the fat by at least half. Also the sodium content of a low-calorie, low-fat food has been reduced by at least 50% 

PERCENT FAT FREE

The product must be a low-fat or fat-free product. The claim must accurately reflect the amount of fat present in 100g of the food. For example, if a food contains 2.5g of fat per 50g, the claim must be "95% Fat Free"

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