Can You Speak LabelJargon?

My dietition was telling me how to make healthy eating choices. She advised me to read the labels on the food I buy, so I’ll know what I’m getting. It made sense to me, right up until I picked up a package and tried to read the food label. I quickly found out I needed a translator, or a magic decoder ring to decipher the code.

I tried to find out what all the jargon means, and here is what I found about some of the main label claims used on food packages, and what they mean:

Cholesterol

Cholesterol free- Has less than 2 milligrams (mg) cholesterol in a serving; saturated fat content must be 2 grams or less in a serving.

Low cholesterol- Contains 20 mg cholesterol or less in a serving; saturated fat content must be 2 grams or less in a serving. For a meal or main dish- 20 mg cholesterol or less in 100 grams of food, with saturated fat content less than 2 grams in 100 grams of food.

Saturated Fat

Saturated fat free- Means less than 1/2 gram saturated fat in a serving; levels of trans fat acids must be not more than 1 percent of total fat.
Low saturated fat- 1 gram saturated fat or less in a serving and 15 percent or less of calories from saturated fat. For a meal or main dish (like a frozen dinner)- 1 gram saturated fat or less in 100 grams of food and less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat.

Fat

Fat free- Is less than 1/2 gram fat in a serving.
Low fat- has 3 grams total fat or less in a serving.
For a meal or main dish- 3 grams total fat or less in 100 grams of food and not more than 30% of calories from fat.
Percent fat free--A food with this claim must also meet the low fat claim.

Calories

Calorie free- Less than 5 calories in a serving.

Low calorie- 40 calories or less in a serving.

Sodium

Sodium free- Less than 5 mg sodium in a serving.

Low sodium- 140 mg sodium or less in a serving. For a meal or main dish- 140 mg sodium or less in 100 grams of food. Very low sodium- 35 mg sodium or less in a serving.

Words that mean the same thing as free- "no," "zero," "without," "trivial source of," "negligible source of," and "dietary insignificant source of."

Words that mean the same thing as low- "contains a small amount of" and "low source of."

Light

A product has been changed to have half the fat or one-third fewer calories than the regular product; or the sodium in a low calorie, low fat food has been cut by 50 percent; or a meal or main dish is low fat or low calorie.

"Light" also may be used to describe things like the color or texture of a food, as long as the label explains this- for example, "light brown sugar" or "light and fluffy."

Reduced/Less/Lower/Fewer

A food (like a lower-fat hot dog or a lower-sodium cracker) has at least 25 % less of something like calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium than the regular food or a similar food to which it is compared.

Lean and Extra Lean are used to describe the fat content of meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish.

Lean Less than 10 grams fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol in a serving.

Extra lean Less than 5 grams fat, less than 2 grams saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol in a serving.

So now that the secret code is broken, I am ready to go back into the Grocery Store, somewhat confident in my new knowledge.

But wait a minute … What’s all this about portions and/or serving size?

Uh-Oh, It looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me!