There are five key points to know about food labels:

You can believe the claims on food packages.

Nutrient Content Claims
Words like "low," "good source," and "free" have been used on food labels for a long time, but their meanings were unclear. Now food labels have specific definitions for these terms, so you can believe these words when you see them on a package:

• free
• high
• light
• low
• more
• reduced
• good source
• less

For meat and poultry:

• lean
• extra lean

Look for claims like "low fat" or "high fiber" on the front panel of the food package. These words tell you some of the best nutritional features of the food. Use these as a quick guide to healthy foods. You should also look at the nutritional panel on the back or side of the food package. This panel shows what other nutrients are in the food and lets you compare one food to another food that makes a similar claim or even to a food that makes no claim. Foods that claim to be organic or made from organic ingredients must meet requirements to state such claims on their packages. Terms like "100 percent organic," "organic," and "made with organic ingredients" are based on the percentage of organic ingredients in the product.

For more information on nutrient content claims, go to the Food and Drug Administration’s website at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdnewlab.html or the National Organic Program’s (NOP) website at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexIE.htm.

Health Claims

Food labels can carry information about the link between certain nutrients and specific diseases. For such a "health claim" to be made on a package, the FDA must first determine that the diet-disease link is supported by scientific evidence. At this time, FDA is allowing ten specific claims about the relationships between the following pairs:

• fat and cancer
• saturated fat and cholesterol and coronary heart disease (CHD)
• calcium and osteoporosis
• sodium and hypertension (high blood pressure)
• fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain fiber and risk of CHD
• soluble fiber from certain foods, such as whole oats and psyllium seed husk, and heart disease
• fiber-containing grain products, fruits, and vegetables and cancer
• fruits and vegetables and cancer
• folic acid and neural tube defects
• dietary sugar alcohols and dental caries (cavities)

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