As part of any weight loss program, it’s important to know how to read food labels. Even though we may think that their meaning is obvious to the average person, as you’ll see that this is not necessarily the case. Words such as “low”, “light” and “free”, have special meanings when it comes to labels.

In addition. a food label contains information such as net contents for the weight, measure or count of the product.

Serving size and the number of serving per container, along with calorie information, is included in addition to quantities of specified nutrients and food constituents that include total food energy (in calories), total fat, saturated fat and trans fats, all listed in grams (g).

Values for total cholesterol and sodium, listed in milligrams (mg), total carbohydrates including starch, sugar, and fiber, all in grams, are listed.

Also, the ingredients, listed at the bottom of the box, start with the ingredient with the greatest amount going all the way to the last listed item, which has the least.

The following are a list of some of the common words found on food labels with the meanings as defined by the Nutrition Labeling Act of 1990.

Free
This term refers to the nutritional value of the food item. In this case “Free” means having trivial or no nutritional value. Synonyms include “without”, “no” and “zero.”

High
High refers to having a nutritional value of 20% or more of the Daily Value (DV) of a given nutrient per serving. Synonyms include “rich in”, or “excellent in.”

Less
Less means that the food item has 25% less of a given nutrient or calories than the comparison food.

Low
Low Refers to an amount that allows frequent consumption of the food without exceeding the nutrient’s DV.

Good Source
When the label reads “Good Source”, the food item provides between 10% and 19% of a given nutrient’s DV per serving.

Cholesterol Free
This terms refers to the amount of cholesterol in terms of milligrams and saturated fat in terms of grams. Any serving that has less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturate fat per serving is considered “Cholesterol Free.”

Low Cholesterol
Low Cholesterol refers to a serving that has 20 milligrams or less of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat.

Less Cholesterol
When a serving has 25% or less of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat, the term “Less Cholesterol” is used.

The Following terms refer to how much fat is found in a food item per serving.

Extra Lean
This term is used to describe 100 grams (approximately 3.5 ounces) of meat, poultry and seafood items. Any item that has less that 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving per 100 grams is considered “Extra Lean.”

Lean
Lean refers to less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving for 100 grams of meat, poultry and seafood.

Fat Free
A food item that contains less that 0.5 grams of fat per serving.

Less Fat
A food item that contains 25% or less fat than comparison food.

Low Fat
Low Fat means 3 grams of less of fat per serving.

Light
Light means 50% or less than comparison food item. For example, a “Light” beverage would have 50% less than the regular beverage.

Less Saturated Fat
A food item tha has 25% or less saturated fat than comparison food.

The Following terms refer to energy (calories) in a food.

Calorie Free
When a item is “Calorie Free”, the item has fewer than 5 calories per serving.

Light
Light means that the item has 1/3 fewer calories than the comparison food.

Low Calorie
Low Calorie means the item has 40 calories or less per serving.

Reduced Calorie
“Reduced Calorie” foods have at least 25% fewer calories per serving than comparison food item.

High Fiber
If you’re looking to add fiber to your diet and you see the term “High Fiber”, this means that the item has 5 grams or more fiber per serving.

Watching the amount of salt intake is an important part of any weight loss program. The following list refers to the amount of salt per serving. The current recommendation for salt is 2,400 milligrams or less per day.

Sodium Free or Salt Free
This is less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving.

Low Sodium
Refers to less than 140 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.

Light
This terms refers to a low-calorie food with 50% sodium reduction.

Light in Sodium
This term refers to no more than 50% of the sodium of comparison food.

Very Low Sodium
This term refers to 35 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.

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