Nutrient content claims are used by many companies as a marketing tool to highlight important nutrition aspects of their products. Nutrient content claims, defined by the FDA, describe the level of a nutrient in a food. The FDA has specific regulations for nutrient content claims that must be followed in order to make the claim.
Definitions of Nutrient Content Claims
Free: Contains no consequential amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, or calories.
Light/Lite: Products that have fewer calories, less fat or less sodium of the regular version.
Low: Foods that contain a small amount of fat, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol.
Reduced: A nutritionally altered product with fewer calories or nutrients than the regular product. This claim cannot be used on products that in its original state can be considered “low.”
Less/Fewer: Foods that are not necessarily altered, but when compared to foods in a similar category they have less or few of a specified nutrient or calorie.
More: Foods that have an additional amount of a nutrient than a food with which it is compared.
Good source: A serving of food that meets a certain percent of a particular nutrient.
High: A serving of food that meets a certain percent of a particular nutrient.
Healthy: A serving of food that is low in fat and saturated fat, with limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium and provides a specific level of protein, fiber, specific vitamins and/or minerals.
All the above claims are based on specific levels or numbers of calories and/or nutrients in a determined serving size that are defined by the FDA. Nutrient content claims are typically made on calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates, fiber and sugar.
On The Menu can help you determine nutrient attributes of your food. Contact On The Menu to discuss the nutrient content claims you can make on your products.
