If you’re working towards health goals, then you’ve likely seen the vast array of nutrition and health claims on food packaging. These food and health claims can be confusing and frustrating to decipher. Should you pick low sugar or lower sugar? What’s the difference? In today’s blog post, we will discuss these differences, the meanings of health claims, and which health claims companies can legally use on food packaging. Buckle up, there are rather a long list of claims to discuss!
Types of Claims on Food Packaging
There are three main categories of claims:
Nutrient Content Claims – Regarding how much or little of a nutrient the food contains. These contain strict criteria for companies to meet in order to use.
Structure-Function Claims – How a nutrient works in the body, or how the nutrient helps us. These claims are known scientific facts and must be backed by research.
Health Claims – What impact the food has on a health condition such as diabetes or hypertension. These are highly regulated and must be approved by the FDA before use.
Nutrient Claims and their Meanings
- Good source – Contains 10-19% of the daily value (DV) of a certain nutrient per serving. Example: “a good source of calcium” and should show 10-19% on the %DV column.
- Excellent source – Contains 20% of daily value or higher of the nutrient per serving. Example: “a good source of calcium” and should show 20% on the %DV column or higher.
- Low – This can refer to total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, or calories. Each nutrient has its own requirements:
- Low fat – Three grams or less per serving
- Low saturated fat – One gram or less per serving AND 15% or less of total calories from saturated fat
- Low sodium – 140 mg or less per serving
- Very low sodium – 35 mg or less per serving
- Low cholesterol – 20 mg or less per serving AND 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving
- Low calorie – 40 calories or less per serving
- Light or lite – Half the fat content of the original version of the food (same brand) AND the calories are reduced by 1/3
- Lightly salted – 50% less sodium than the original product
- Reduced – 25% of less of sugar, fat, or calories than the original product (same brand)
- Free:
- Fat free – Less than 0.5 g of fat per serving
- Sugar free – Less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving
- Gluten free – Less than 2 ppm (part per million) of gluten
- No salt added – There was no salt added during the processing of the product, but this does not mean it is a low sodium food as the product could already contain sodium (it must also say “not a sodium free food” on the label for that to be the case)
- Organic – Produced without the use of pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation as stated by the USDA standards
- Lean – Less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, AND 95 mg of cholesterol per serving
- Extra lean – Less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, AND 95 mg of cholesterol per serving
Structure-Function Claims and their Meanings
Structure-function claims are statements that describe the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient intended to affect normal structure or function in humans. These claims focus on how a nutrient or dietary ingredient supports the body’s structure or its natural functions. They do not mention diseases or conditions that require medical diagnosis or treatment, and they do not have a criterion. Examples are:
- Calcium builds strong bones
- Fiber maintains bowel regularity
Health Claims and their Meanings
Health claims, on the other hand, are quite regulated and must be authorized by the FDA. These must meet the significant scientific agreement standard. There are currently authorized claims regarding:
- Calcium, vitamin D, and osteoporosis
- Dietary lipids and cancer
- Dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and the risk of coronary heart disease
- Dietary non-cariogenic carbohydrate sweeteners and dental caries
- Fiber-containing grain products, fruits and vegetables, and cancer
- Folic acid and neural tube defects
- Fruits and vegetables and cancer
- Fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain fiber, and the risk of coronary heart disease
- Sodium and hypertension
- Soluble fiber from certain foods and risk of coronary heart disease
- Soy fiber and risk of coronary heart disease
- Stanols and sterols and risk of coronary heart disease
Whew, that’s a lot of claims! No wonder it is so easy to get so confused when looking at products. Knowing which claims to look for can be helpful when working towards nutrition goals. It is important to ask your registered dietitian what you should be looking out for and which claims may help you achieve your goals. One thing we do want to emphasize is that it’s important to read the complete nutrition label rather than just rely on the packaging claims. For instance, just because a product says it’s fat-free, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a healthy choice.
If you are needing help with your health or nutrition goals and don’t have a registered dietitian on your team yet, reach out to our team. We are happy to help and look forward to talking with you to create your own personalized nutrition plan that works for you and your lifestyle!
References
https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/how-to-navigate-nutrient-and-health-claims-on-food-packaging
