Free: This means no or insignificant amounts (less than half a gram) of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories. This may also be listed as "without," "no" and "zero." If a food says "fat-free," "non-fat," or "zero fat," then it has less than half a gram of fat.
Low: A food can add "low" in front of a nutrient if it doesn't exceed a certain level per serving of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories. You can eat these foods as part of a balanced diet and will probably not exceed the daily values. Example: low-fat cheese.
- Low-fat: 3 g or less per serving
- Low-saturated fat: 1 g or less per serving
- Low-sodium: 140 mg or less per serving
- Very low sodium: 35 mg or less per serving
- Low-cholesterol: 20 mg or less and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving
- Low-calorie: 40 calories or less per serving.
- Lean: less than 10 g fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.
- Extra lean: less than 5 g fat, less than 2 g saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.
High: If the food has 20 percent or more of the daily value per serving for a nutrient, it is high in that nutrient.
Good source: One serving of this food contains 10 to 19 percent of the daily value for that nutrient.
Reduced: For foods not naturally low in a certain nutrient, it can be called reduced if it has been altered to have 25 percent less of that nutrient. For example, reduced-fat milk or reduced-fat cheese, as the natural milk or cheese are at least 25 percent higher in fat.
Less or Fewer: This term compares the food to a reference food and claims 25 percent less of a nutrient or calories than the reference food. A common example are potato chips that claim 25 percent less fat or 25 percent fewer calories than other potato chips.
Light: A food can call itself light if it has 1/3 fewer calories or half the fat of the reference food. Example: light sour cream would have less fat and/or calories than regular sour cream. It can claim to be light in sodium if the sodium content is reduced by at least 50 percent.
More: This means the food has a nutrient that is at least 10 percent of the daily value more than the reference food.
Healthy: To call itself "healthy," a food must be low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. If it is a single-item food, it must provide at least 10 percent or more of the daily value of vitamins A or C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber. Some foods are naturally healthy unless they are modified: fruits, vegetables, and some grains. For frozen entrees and multi-course frozen dinners, they must also provide 10 percent of two or three of the listed vitamins, minerals, protein or fiber in addition to being low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. The sodium content must be below 360 mg per serving for individual foods and 480 mg per serving for meal-type products.
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Source: USFDA How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label.
USFDA The Food Label.
