Understanding Food Terms
If you’re trying to eat healthier or control your weight, you’ll be watching what you eat. That means reading food packages and labels. But with so many different terms, it can be confusing.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rules that define the terms food companies can use to describe the nutrients your body takes in from that food. Here’s what the terms used on food packages are really telling you:
Free
How you might see it on a label: fat-free, sugar-free, calorie-free
What it means: This means that a product does not have any of that nutrient, or so little that it’s unlikely to make any difference to your body. For example, “calorie-free” means less than 5 calories per serving. “Sugar-free” and “fat-free” both mean less than 0.5 g (grams) per serving.
These nutrients can be described using the term “free”:
- Fat
- Saturated fat
- Cholesterol
- Sodium
- Sugars
- Calories
Other terms that may be used: Without, no, zero and (for fat-free milk) skim.