Does fat-free really mean free of fat?Do you know what
words really mean on food labels?
In this article, you’ll discover everything you need to know about how to interpret food labels and make right food choices.
So what does “fat-free” really mean?
To be labeled “fat-free”, food must contain less than ½ gram of fat per serving.
To be labeled “Low Fat”, food must contain 3 grams or less of fat per serving.
To be labeled “Reduced Fat”, food must be at least 25 percent lower in fat than a comparable food.
To be labeled “Light”, food must contain 1/3 fewer calories, OR ½ fat OR 2/3 sodium of a comparable food (but not necessarily all three!).
Some foods (especially meat and dairy products) appear to have less fat than they really do. For example, if a milk or cheese label reads 2% milk or 2% cheese, this means that 2 percent of product volume (NOT calories) comes from milk fat.
You can use a little math to discover how much fat these products actually contain.
First, find total calories per serving and fat calories per serving. For example if total calories per serving are 80 and fat calories per serving are 50, divide fat calories per serving by total calories per serving.
