When shopping at the store I am always bombarded by many different choices and often have a hard time determining what the difference is between light, reduced fat, low calorie, sugar free, etc. Here’s a helpful “term dictionary”:

 – Good Source of – Contains 10-19 percent of nutrient’s daily value per serving

– High/Excellent Source of – contains more than 20 percent of nutrient’s daily value per serving

– Reduced or Less – at least 25 percent less than the regular product

– Light – Has 1/3 the calories or ½ the fat of the food to which it is being compared (ex: 1 Tbsp light mayonnaise has 50 calories and 5 grams of fat, while 1 Tbsp real mayonnaise has 100 calories and 11 grams fat.

– Low Calorie – There still might be some calories in a serving of a “low calorie” food, but it has to be 40 calories or less

– Low Fat – less than 3 grams/serving

– Low Sodium – less than 140 mg/serving

– Very Low Sodium – less than 35 mg/serving

– Sugar Free – Must have 0.5 grams of sugar per serving or less – this does not mean that it does not have a lot of starchy carbohydrates or fat.

– Calorie Free – less than 5 calories– Fat Free – less than 0.5 grams/serving

– Healthy – less than 3 grams fat, less than 1 gram saturated fat, less than 480 mg sodium, less than 60 mg cholesterol per serving