# fat-free-individual-food — FDA nutrient content claim qualification criteria

For fat-free-individual-food, claim term is fat free; nutrient is total fat; food format is individual food (not a meal or main dish product); threshold is less than 0.5 gram (g) of fat per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving; cfr section is 21 CFR 101.62(b)(1)(i), recorded from its source on 2026-08-17.

- **Claim ID:** fat-free-individual-food _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Claim term:** fat free _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Nutrient:** total fat _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Food format:** individual food (not a meal or main dish product) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Threshold:** less than 0.5 gram (g) of fat per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **CFR section:** 21 CFR 101.62(b)(1)(i) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Special conditions:** The food contains no added ingredient that is a fat or is generally understood by consumers to contain fat _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> The terms “fat free,” “free of fat,” “no fat,” “zero fat,” “without fat,” “negligible source of fat,” or “dietarily insignificant source of fat” or, in the case of milk products, “skim” may be used on the label or in labeling of foods, provided that: ( i ) The food contains less than 0.5 gram (g) of fat per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving or, in the case of a meal product or main dish product, less than 0.5 g of fat per labeled serving; and ( ii ) The food contains no added ingredient that is a fat or is generally understood by consumers to contain fat unless the listing of the ingredient in the ingredient statement is followed by an asterisk that refers to the statement below the list of ingredients, which states “adds a trivial amount of fat,” “adds a negligible amount of fat,” or “adds a dietarily insignificant amount of fat;” and ( iii ) As required in <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-101.13#p-101.13(e)(2)> § 101.13(e)(2) , if the food meets these conditions without the benefit of special processing, alteration, formulation, or reformulation to lower fat content, it is labeled to disclose that fat is not usually present in the food (e.g., “broccoli, a fat free food”).

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-D/section-101.62

Last verified: 2026-08-17. Review by: 2027-08-17.
Part of [FDA nutrient content claim qualification criteria](https://referencesource.org/fda-nutrient-content-claim-criteria/).