or less of saturated fat per serving80
Low‐calorie: 40 calories or less per serving.81
Synonyms for low include “little,” “few,” “low source of,” and “contains a small amount of.”
Less. Food, whether altered or not, that contains 25 percent less of a nutrient or of calories than the reference food. For example, pretzels that have 25 percent less fat than potato chips could carry a “less” claim. “Fewer” is an acceptable synonym.
Light. Either of two meanings: (i) A nutritionally altered product containing at least one‐third fewer calories or at least half the fat of the reference food (if the food derives 50 percent or more of its calories from fat, the reduction must be 50 percent of the fat.); or (ii) the sodium content of a low‐calorie, low‐fat food has been reduced by 50 percent.
“Light in sodium” may be used on food in which the sodium content has been reduced by at least 50 percent.
The term “light” still can be used to describe such properties as texture and color, as long as the label explains the intent—for example, “light brown sugar” and “light and fluffy.”
More. A serving of food, whether altered or not, that contains a nutrient that is at least 10 percent of the DV more than the reference food. The 10 percent of DV also applies to “fortified,” “enriched,” “added,” “extra,” and “plus” claims, but in those cases, the food must be altered. Alternative spelling of these descriptive terms and their synonyms is allowed—for example, “hi” and “lo”—as long as the alternatives are not misleading.82
Percent fat free: A low‐fat or a fat‐free product, where the claim accurately reflects the amount of fat present in 100 grams of the food. Thus, if a food contains 2.5 grams fat per 50 grams, the claim must be “95 percent fat free.”
Reduced. A nutritionally altered product that contains at least 25 percent less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular, or reference, product. However, a reduced claim cannot be made on a product if its reference food already meets the requirement for a “low” claim.
In addition to the core nutrient level descriptors, there are a number of aspects about nutrient content claim that bear special mention.
Relative Claims83
A relative claim is a statement that compares the level of a nutrient in the food with the level of a nutrient in a reference food. Relative claims include “light,” “reduced,” “less” (or “fewer” for calories), and “more” claims. The key to making proper relative claims about the level of a nutrient is that the amount of that nutrient in the food must be compared to an amount of nutrient in an appropriate reference food. The reference food varies based on the type of claim being made.
For “less,” “fewer,” and “more” claims, the reference food may be a similar food (e.g., potato chips as reference for potato chips) or a different food within a product category when they can generally be substituted for one another in the diet (e.g., potato chips as reference for pretzels, orange juice as a reference for vitamin C tablets).
For “light,” “reduced,” “added,” “extra,” “plus,” “fortified,” and “enriched” claims, the reference food must be a similar food (e.g., potato chips as a reference for potato chips, one brand of multivitamin for another brand of multivitamin). For “light” claims, the reference food must be representative of the type of food that bears the claim. The reference food does not have to be a specific product but can be an average representative of a broad base of foods of that type (e.g., a value in a representative, valid database; an average value determined from the top three national (or regional) brands, a market basket norm; or, where its nutrient value is representative of the food type, a market leader).
Sugar Claims84
A “sugar free” claim requires less than 0.5 grams of sugars per reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) and per labeled serving. In addition, because consumers may reasonably expect that a food represented as containing no sugars or sweeteners is also a product that is low in calories or significantly reduced in calories, a food may not be labeled as “sugar free” unless it is also labeled “low calorie” or “reduced calorie” or the “sugar free” claim is immediately accompanied by one of the following disclaimers: “not a reduced calorie food,” “not a low calorie food,” or “not for weight control.”
If a food bearing a “sugar free” claim contains an ingredient that is a sugar or that is generally understood by consumers to contain sugars, then the listing of that ingredient in the ingredient statement must be followed by an asterisk that refers to a statement below the list of ingredients, “adds a trivial amount of sugar,” “adds a negligible amount of sugar,” or “adds a dietarily insignificant amount of sugar.”
Synonyms for “sugar free” are “free of sugar,” “no sugar,” “zero sugar,” “without sugar,” “sugarless,” “trivial source of sugar,” “negligible source of sugar,” and “dietarily insignificant source of sugar.”
The terms “no added sugar,” “without added sugar,” or “no sugar added” may be used only if no amount of sugar is added and no ingredient that contains sugars that functionally substitute for added sugars is added. An example of a functional substitute for added sugars would be adding concentrated fruit juice. Ingredients that contain added sugars such as jam or jelly also count as added sugar. In addition, the food cannot have been processed to increase the sugars content, such as by the use of enzymes. Finally, the claim may only be made when the food that it resembles and for which it substitutes normally contains added sugars. If the food does not meet the definition of “low calorie” or “calorie reduced,” then the label must direct consumers’ attention to the nutrition panel for further information on sugar and calorie content.
Inherent Claims85
When a food inherently meets the nutritional requirements of the “free” or “low” claim for a nutrient without special processing or altering, the claim must indicate that the food inherently meets the claim by clearly referring to all foods of that type rather than that particular brand. For example, “Corn oil, a sodium‐free food.”
Nutrient Statements That Are Not Nutrient Content Claims
The FDCA provides strict regulation for a claim that “characterizes the level of any nutrient” on the label or labeling of the food.86 FDA chose the term “nutrient content claim,” but “nutrient level description” might more precisely convey the language in the Act. This distinction is important because nutrient claims that only indicate the factual quantity of a nutrient without characterizing the level are not regulated as nutrient content claims.
Nutrient content claims characterize the level of a nutrient. For instance, “High in antioxidants” characterizes the level as “high.” As an alternative, a quantitative statement of the presence of a component
