These claims have specific limits across the European Union. ‘Sugars-free’ means up to 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g. ‘With no added sugars’ means no sugar was added, but the product may contain natural sugars, and then it must say so. ‘Light’ means at least 30% less of something compared with similar products, and the pack must say what.
On the front of packs you often see words like ‘light’ or ‘sugar-free’. They cannot be used freely. The European Union’s Regulation 1924/2006 says which claims about nutrients are allowed and under what conditions. The law calls them ‘nutrition claims’.
The rules for all claims
- Only the claims listed in the regulation are allowed, and only when the product meets the conditions.
- Any other wording with the same meaning follows the same limits. ‘Sugar-free’ on a biscuit is almost certainly judged in the same way as the official ‘sugars-free’.
- The limits are measured per 100 g or per 100 ml, and some as a percentage of energy. Almost never per serving.
- Any product with such a claim must also have a nutrition table. If the claim is about fibre, the pack must also state how much fibre it has.
- When a claim compares, like ‘reduced’ or ‘light’, it must compare with similar products in the same category and state how big the difference is.
The claims about sugar
| Claim (official wording) | What it means |
|---|---|
| Low sugars | Up to 5 g of sugars per 100 g or up to 2.5 g per 100 ml |
| Sugars-free | Up to 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g or per 100 ml |
| With no added sugars | No sugar or other food has been added to sweeten it. If the product contains natural sugars, it must state ‘Contains naturally occurring sugars’ |
| Reduced sugars | At least 30% less sugars than similar products, and the same or lower energy |
The most common misunderstanding is that ‘with no added sugars’ means ‘sugar-free’. The muesli with no added sugar in our database has 13.3 g of sugars per 100 g. So it is above the limit for ‘low sugars’.
And ‘sugars-free’ does not mean ‘calorie-free’. A sugars-free biscuit still has flour and fat and may contain polyols. All of these provide energy.
The ‘reduced sugars’ claim needs care. The law requires the energy to be no higher than that of the usual product. So it may be the same, if the sugar was replaced with other ingredients.
‘Light’ and ‘reduced’
A product may say ‘light’ or ‘lite’ when it has at least 30% less of something compared with similar products. That something may be energy, fat, sugars or another nutrient. The pack must say exactly what has been reduced.
A light product is not necessarily light in calories. The light cheese slices in our database have 259 kcal per 100 g. The graviera cheese in our database has 408 kcal and 33.5 g of fat, while the light cheese has 15.2 g. So it has less fat, but it is still a food with quite a lot of energy. For sodium and salt, the reduction needed is 25%.
Fat and calories
| Claim | What it means |
|---|---|
| Low energy | Up to 40 kcal per 100 g or up to 20 kcal per 100 ml |
| Energy-free | Up to 4 kcal per 100 ml |
| Low fat | Up to 3 g per 100 g or 1.5 g per 100 ml (1.8 g for semi-skimmed milk) |
| Fat-free | Up to 0.5 g per 100 g or per 100 ml |
| Low saturated fat | Saturates and trans fats together up to 1.5 g per 100 g (0.75 g per 100 ml) and up to 10% of the product’s energy |
Two examples from the app’s database show why you need to read carefully:
- Strained yoghurt 0% is ‘fat-free’, with 0.4 g per 100 g. But it has 58 kcal, so it is not ‘low energy’.
- Strained yoghurt 2% is ‘low fat’. Its saturates are 1.2 g, below 1.5. But they provide 15% of its energy, above 10%, so it is not ‘low saturated fat’.
Claims such as ‘97% fat-free’ are prohibited.
Sweeteners and polyols
When a food contains sweeteners, the pack must say ‘with sweetener(s)’ next to the name. If it has both sugar and sweeteners, it says ‘with sugar(s) and sweetener(s)’. Aspartame comes with a statement that it is a source of phenylalanine, which matters for people with phenylketonuria.
Polyols, such as maltitol and sorbitol, do not count in the ‘sugars’ line of the table. They do count in carbohydrate, though, and provide 2.4 kcal per gram. Erythritol counts as 0. When a product contains more than 10% added polyols, it must state that ‘excessive consumption may produce laxative effects’.
Whether a product ‘with no added sugars’ may contain sweeteners is disputed in Europe. The claims regulation excludes any food added for sweetening, while the additives regulation allows sweeteners in foods with no added sugars. We did not find a ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU that settles the matter. In practice, if you see such a product, look for the phrase ‘with sweetener(s)’ next to the name.
Protein, fibre and salt
| Claim | What it means |
|---|---|
| Source of protein | At least 12% of energy from protein |
| High protein | At least 20% of energy from protein |
| Source of fibre | At least 3 g per 100 g or 1.5 g per 100 kcal |
| High fibre | At least 6 g per 100 g or 3 g per 100 kcal |
| Low sodium/salt | Up to 0.3 g of salt per 100 g |
| No added sodium/salt | No salt has been added and the product has up to 0.3 g per 100 g |
‘Source of protein’ does not mean a lot of protein. Plain rolled oats reach it, with 12.4% of energy from protein. When a food meets a condition by its nature, it may say ‘naturally’, for example ‘naturally low fat’.
Why sugar matters
The World Health Organization (2015) recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of energy, about 50 g at 2,000 kcal. This is a strong recommendation. Free sugars are added sugar, honey, syrups and fruit juices. The sugars in fresh fruit, vegetables and milk do not count towards them. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2022) could not set a safe upper limit and states that added and free sugars should be as low as possible.
| What research shows | How certain |
|---|---|
| Sugars cause tooth decay | Very certain |
| In adults, when free sugars are reduced, weight falls a little, mainly because energy intake falls | Fairly certain |
| Added sugars increase the risk of obesity and high blood lipids | Fairly certain |
| They increase the risk of fatty liver and type 2 diabetes | Low certainty |
| There is extra benefit below 5% | Uncertain |
What to do at the shelf
- The claim on the front tells you one thing. The rest is in the table.
- Compare two products in the per 100 g column. The article on the nutrition table also has a colour-coded tool.
- With ‘light’, look for what has been reduced.
- With ‘with no added sugars’, check whether the pack says ‘contains naturally occurring sugars’ and how many sugars the table shows.
In MesogeaFit, the claims on the pack do not change the colour of the scan. The colour comes from the nutrition table and from certain ingredients, such as sweeteners and partially hydrogenated fats.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (2006). Consolidated text of 13/12/2014: Articles 7–9 and Annex. EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (2011). Annexes I, III and XIV. EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives (2008). Articles 3 and 7, Annex I. EUR-Lex
- World Health Organization (2015). Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. who.int
- EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (2022). Tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars. EFSA Journal 20(2):e07074. doi.org
Last checked: October 2026. This article gives general information for adults and does not replace advice from a doctor or dietitian. If you find a mistake, write to us at info@mesogeafit.com.
The amounts for your own meals
MesogeaFit works out the grams of each meal from your details and corrects them every 2 weeks from your weigh-ins.
