A Little 'Lite' Reading

"Low fat." "No cholesterol." "High in oat bran." "Light." And don't forget "lite."

Until now, many of these claims have been nothing more than advertising hype. The public has been misled with products like the "light" vegetable oil that was just light in color and the "lite" cheesecake that was just light in texture.

But with the publication of new food labeling regulations in January 1993, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) address the problem of misleading nutrition claims and help reestablish the credibility of the food label. The regulations spell out which nutrient content claims are allowed and under what circumstances they can be used.

There are 11 core terms (which are illustrated in a 63K PDF file):

• free
• low
• lean
• extra lean
• high
• good source
• reduced
• less
• light
• fewer
• more

Let Freedom Ring

The new regulations allow manufacturers the option to use the following synonyms for the term "free":

• without
• trivial source of
• negligible source of
• dietarily insignificant source of
• no
• zero

For example, zero fat cannot be required because it is impossible to measure below a certain amount. So, the regulation will allow a fat-free claim on foods with less than 0.5 grams (g) of fat per serving, an amount that is physiologically insignificant even if a person eats several servings.

Foods that don't contain a certain nutrient naturally must be labeled to indicate that all foods of that type meet the claim. For example, a fat-free claim on applesauce would have to read "applesauce, a fat-free food."

"Free" also can be used in reference to saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories.

The Lowdown

A food meets the definition for "low" if a person can eat a large amount of the food without exceeding the Daily Value for the nutrient.

The synonyms allowed for "low" are:

• little
• few
• contains a small amount of
• low source of

A claim of "very low" can be made only about sodium.

Lean, Mean Eating Machine

"Lean" and "extra lean" can be used to describe the fat content of meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats. (FSIS regulates meat and poultry products; FDA oversees seafood and game meats.)

"Lean" means the food has less than 10 g of fat, less than 4 g of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per serving and per 100 g. An example of a serving is 55 g (2 oz.) for fish, shellfish or game meat. Some "lean" foods are Spanish mackerel, bluefin tuna, and domesticated rabbit.

"Extra lean" means the food has less than 5 g of fat, less than 2 g of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per serving and per 100 g. Examples of "extra lean" foods are haddock, swordfish, clams, and deer.

Percent Fat Free

FDA and FSIS believe that this claim implies, and consumers expect, that products bearing "percent fat free" claims contain relatively small amounts of fat and are useful in maintaining a low-fat diet. Therefore, products with these claims must meet the definitions for low fat.

In addition, the claim must accurately reflect the amount of fat present in 100 g of the food. For example, if a food contains 2.5 g of fat per 50 g, the claim must be "95 percent fat free."

Take the High Road

"High" and "good source" focus on nutrients for which higher levels are desirable. To qualify for the "high" claim, the food must contain 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for that nutrient in a serving. Approved synonyms for high are "rich in" or "excellent source."

"Good source" means a serving contains 10 to 19 percent of the Daily Value for the nutrient.

Comparison Claims

Manufacturers who want to compare a nutritionally altered product with the regular product may make a relative claim--that is, "reduced," "less," "fewer," "more," or "light." The regular products, or reference foods, may be either an individual food or a group of foods representative of the type of food--for example, an average of three market leaders.

Restrictions on these claims and the reference foods include:

• A relative claim must include the percent difference and the identity of the reference food.
• "Reduced," "less" and "light" claims can't be made on products whose nutrient level in the reference food already meets the requirement for a "low" claim.
• Reference foods for "light" and "reduced" claims must be similar to the product bearing the claim--for example, reduced fat potato chips compared with regular potato chips.
• Reference foods for "less" and, in the case of calories, "fewer" may use dissimilar products within a product category--for example, pretzels with 25 percent less fat than potato chips.

Let There Be Light/Lite

"Light" or "lite" can mean one of two things:

First, that a nutritionally altered product contains one-third fewer calories or half the fat of the reference food. If the food derives 50 percent or more of its calories from fat, the reduction must be 50 percent of the fat.

Second, that the sodium content of a low-calorie, low-fat food has been reduced by 50 percent.

The term "light in sodium" is allowed if the food has at least 50 percent less sodium than a reference food. If the food still does not meet the definition for "low sodium," the label must include the disclaimer "not a low-sodium food."

"Light" will be allowed to describe color or texture, provided qualifying information is included. However, names that have a long history of use, such as "light brown sugar," can still be used without qualifying information.

Meals and Main Dishes

Any product represented as or in a form commonly understood to be breakfast, lunch or dinner is subject to the special rules for meal products. Examples include frozen dinners, some pizzas, and shelf-stable items.

Under FDA rules, a main dish must weigh at least 6 ounces and contain at least two different foods from at least two of four specified food groups. (While FDA endorses the five food groups recommended in current dietary guidelines, the agency believes treating fruits and vegetables as separate groups in this situation would allow the inappropriate classification of a fruit and a vegetable product as a main dish.)

FDA requires a "meal" to weigh at least 10 ounces and have at least three different foods from at least two of the four specified food groups.

USDA defines a meal-type product as one weighing between 6 and 12 ounces per serving and containing ingredients from two or more of four specified food groups.

Claims that a meal or main dish is "free" of a nutrient, such as sodium or cholesterol, must meet the same requirements as those for individual foods.

"Low" claims can be made if the main dish or meal has:

• 120 calories or less per 100 g
• 140 mg sodium or less per 100 g
• 3 g fat or less and no more than 30 percent of calories from fat per 100 g
• 1 g saturated fat or less and no more than 10 percent calories from saturated fat per 100 g or
• 20 mg cholesterol or less per 100 g and no more than 2 g of saturated fat per 100 g.

"Made with oat bran" and "no tropical oils" are examples of statements that may be implied nutrient content claims. Such claims are prohibited when they wrongfully imply that a food contains or does not contain a meaningful level of a nutrient. They are allowed if the food's nutrient content meets the definition for appropriate nutrient content descriptors that are implied by the claim.

For example, FDA considers statements about some types of oil as an ingredient, such as "made with canola oil" or "contains corn oil," to imply that the oil in the product is low in saturated fat. Therefore, to carry that claim, a food would have to meet the definition of "low saturated fat."

The statement "made only with vegetable oil" implies that because vegetable oil is used instead of animal fat, the oil component contributes no cholesterol and is low in saturated fat. In this case, the claim could be used only if the food meets the definition of "cholesterol free" and "low saturated fat."

And the statement "contains no oil" implies that the product contains no fat and thus is fat free. Such a claim on a product that contained another source of fat, such as animal fat, would be misleading. Therefore, this statement would be allowed only if the food is truly fat free.

Claims that imply a product contains a particular amount of fiber, such as "high in oat bran," can be made only if the food actually meets the definition for "high" fiber or "good source" of fiber, whichever is appropriate.

Statements that don't fall under the rules for nutrient content implied claims and therefore are still allowed are:

• those that help consumers avoid certain foods because of religious beliefs or dietary practices--for example, a "milk-free" claim
• those about nonnutritive ingredients, such as "no preservatives" or "no artificial colors"
• those about ingredients that provide added value, such as "contains real fruit"
• statements of identity, such as "Colombian coffee" and "100 percent corn oil"

Although not mandated by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, as regulations for the other nutrient content claims are, FDA has issued a regulation for the term "fresh." Under this regulation, "fresh" can be used only on a food that is raw, has never been frozen or heated, and contains no preservatives. (Irradiation at low levels is allowed.) "Fresh frozen," "frozen fresh," and "freshly frozen" can be used for foods that are quickly frozen while still fresh. Blanching (brief scalding before freezing to prevent nutrient breakdown) is allowed.

Other uses of the term "fresh," such as in "fresh milk" or "freshly baked bread," are not affected.

Healthy

Along with the final rule on nutrient content claims published last January, FDA and FSIS published proposed rules that would allow manufacturers to make a "healthy" claim on the label. Under FDA's proposal, "healthy" could be used if the food is low in fat and saturated fat and a serving does not contain more than 480 mg of sodium or more than 60 mg of cholesterol. USDA's proposal would allow the term if the food meets the definition for "lean" and contains no more than 480 mg of sodium per serving.

Final rules are expected in 1993.

Dori Stehlin is a member of FDA's public affairs staff.

Special Situations

But some standards of identity require high amounts of nutrients that many consumers would like to avoid. For example, the standard for sour cream requires that the food contain 18 percent fat and the standard for mozzarella cheese requires it to be 45 percent fat. Before the new regulations, "reduced-fat" sour cream or mozzarella cheese were required to have their own standards of identity or be called "imitation" or "substitute," names that consumers may perceive as negative.

The new regulations allow manufacturers to reduce the fat content of such products and call them "low fat" or "light," as appropriate, as long as the food is still nutritionally equivalent to the regular version. For example, sour cream can be called "light" as long as its fat content is reduced to 9 percent and it has vitamin A added to replace the amount lost when the fat was removed. If the company decides not to add the vitamin A, it must call the product "imitation light sour cream."

FDA is not allowing nutrient content claims on foods for infants and children under 2, unless explicit permission has been given.

FDA allows manufacturers to use the terms "unsweetened" and "unsalted" on these foods because these claims are considered to be about taste rather than nutrient content. However, current dietary guidelines do not call for limiting salt or sugar in the diets of children under 2. Therefore, FDA will not allow phrases that imply low or reduced amounts of sodium and calories, such as "no salt added" and "no sugar added," on these types of foods.

--D.S.