For people who are trying to watch their sodium, shopping can be very difficult. It’s very important to learn how to read nutrition labels, but it’s still convenient to look at the information on the front of the package!
Fortunately, the FDA has created specific definitions for the terms that can be used on packages in the United States:
Sodium Free / No Sodium / Salt Free / No Salt: the product contains 5mg or less of sodium per serving.
Very Low Sodium: the product contains 35 mg or less of sodium per serving.
Low Sodium: the product contains 140 mg or less of sodium per serving.
Lower Sodium / Reduced Sodium / Less Sodium: the product contains 25% less sodium than the manufacturers “standard” product.
On our opinion, this is a misleading label! Since the standard product is often extremely high in sodium, a 25% reduction can still be far too high!
Light Sodium or Lightly Salted: the product contains 50% less sodium than the manufacturers “standard” product.
No Salt Added or Unsalted: no salt is added to the product during processing, but it may still containing naturally occurring sodium.
Always check the Nutrition Facts Label to know how much sodium you are really getting!
