Supermarket packaging often contains common English words that are oddly confusing. Here's what you need to know to safeguard your health.
Imitation
A food that simulates another food but isn't made of the same stuff is an imitation, right? Not quite. It should be labeled imitationonly if it has a lower amount of protein or some other essential nutrient than the food it's copying.
Free
Packages bearing the words fat-, sugar-, or sodium-freemay still contain trace amounts of those substances. The FDA evaluates these terms according to a typical portionsize known as an RACC(reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion). An RACC of eggnog, for example, is a half cup, and for croutons, it's 7 g. To be labeled freeof calories, a food should have fewer than 5 calories per RACC; to qualify as fat-or sugarfree,less than 0.5 g per RACC; and to be labeled sodium-free,fewer than 5 mg per RACC.
Reduced/Less
Don't be fooled: Just because a product claims to have reduced fator to contain less sugardoesn't mean it's lowin the stuff you should avoid in excess(过量). Such terms just mean the amount is lower than usual; the food might not meet the standard for lowat all. These phrases indicate a relational claim compared with a reference food. The reducedsubstance(for example, total fat, sugar,etc.) should be at least 25 percent less per RACC than the amount in an appropriate reference food.
