Claims on the Box

There are hundreds of claims and labels on our foods. Some of the claims you see on the front of packaged foods will actually correlate with the nutrition facts on the back, but which ones?

• Calorie free: less than 5 calories per serving
• Reduced calorie: 25% fewer calories than the regular product
• Low calorie: 40 calories or fewer per serving
• Fat free/ sugar free: less than .5 grams of fat/sugar per serving
• No added sugar: no sugar added during processing or packaging
• High fiber: 20% or more of the daily value for fiber
• Good source of fiber: 10-19% of the daily value of fiber
• Low fat: 3 grams of fat or less per serving
• Low in saturated fat: 1 gram or less of saturated fat per serving
• Light: at least 50% less fat than the regular product or 1/3 fewer calories if fewer than 50% of the calories are already from fat
• More/ fortified/ enriched/ added/ extra/ plus: 10% more of the daily value than the regular product

What are some loopholes that need to be considered with these claims?

• How much is a serving? Notice that most of the claims, especially the free's and low's, are dictated by the serving. Change the serving size; change the rule! My favorite example is TicTac's. Although they're almost all sugar, they are labeled as 'sugar free', because they contain less than .5 grams of sugar per serving. The serving size is one TicTac. What sane person eats one TicTac?
• Is the claim in the name? If the claim of "Plus", "Organic", etc. is a part of the brand name, thee claim does not have to meet regulations.