Guide
What "low sodium", "sugar free" and "high in protein" mean
Words like "low sodium" and "high in protein" are nutrient content claims with fixed FDA meanings, per reference amount; the table gives each one and how many packaged products in USDA's database meet it per labeled serving.
Published · By GetFoodFacts · the rules are cited to FDA and USDA, the figures computed from USDA FoodData Central (April 30, 2026 release)
| Claim | FDA meaning (per reference amount) | Rule | Packaged products meeting it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low sodium | 140 mg or less | 21 CFR 101.61(b)(4); meals and main dishes per 100 g, 101.61(b)(5) | 183,448 of 396,217 (46%) |
| Very low sodium | 35 mg or less | 21 CFR 101.61(b)(2) | not counted |
| Low calorie | 40 calories or less | 21 CFR 101.60(b)(2); meals and main dishes 120 per 100 g, 101.60(b)(3) | 44,747 of 397,628 (11%) |
| Sugar free | less than 0.5 g of sugars | 21 CFR 101.60(c)(1) | 71,779 of 378,010 (19%) |
| Low fat | 3 g or less | 21 CFR 101.62(b)(2) | not counted |
| High in protein | 20% of the Daily Value or more (10 g), after FDA's protein-quality correction (not applied in our count) | 21 CFR 101.54(b), 101.9(c)(7) | 52,233 of 396,198 (13%) |
| High in fiber | 20% of the Daily Value or more (5.6 g) | 21 CFR 101.54(b) | 12,924 of 339,913 (4%) |
| Good source of | 10% to 19% of the Daily Value | 21 CFR 101.54(c) | see each nutrient |
Source: 21 CFR 101.54, 101.60, 101.61, 101.62; USDA FoodData Central branded foods, April 30, 2026 release (counted per labeled serving; each product once, in its manufacturer category).
A claim is a threshold, not a verdict
A "low sodium" soup and a "low sodium" cracker meet the same line for different reference amounts. A claim says nothing about the rest of the label: a sugar-free food can be high in saturated fat. Whether a product name that uses the word "protein" is itself a claim is a question under FDA's rules on implied claims (21 CFR 101.13(b)(2)); this site counts the grams a label declares and does not judge whether any label complies.
How many packaged foods are "low sodium" (research)
Sources for this page
- USDA FoodData Central
- the food and product records, April 30, 2026 release. fdc.nal.usda.gov
- USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies
- the survey foods and their portions. ars.usda.gov
- 21 CFR 101.9, Nutrition labeling of food
- the label format, rounding and Daily Values. ecfr.gov
- 21 CFR 101.12, Reference amounts customarily consumed
- the serving each kind of food is labeled by. ecfr.gov
- FDA, Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels
- the Daily Values in a table. fda.gov