# sodium-free-meal — FDA nutrient content claim qualification criteria

For sodium-free-meal, claim term is sodium free; nutrient is sodium; food format is meal; threshold is less than 5 mg of sodium per labeled serving; cfr section is 21 CFR 101.61(b)(1)(i), recorded from its source on 2026-08-17.

- **Claim ID:** sodium-free-meal _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Claim term:** sodium free _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Nutrient:** sodium _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Food format:** meal _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Threshold:** less than 5 mg of sodium per labeled serving _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **CFR section:** 21 CFR 101.61(b)(1)(i) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Special conditions:** The food contains no ingredient that is sodium chloride or is generally understood by consumers to contain sodium _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> The terms “sodium free,” “free of sodium,” “no sodium,” “zero sodium,” “without sodium,” “trivial source of sodium,” “negligible source of sodium,” or “dietary insignificant source of sodium” may be used on the label or in the labeling of foods, provided that: ( i ) The food contains less than 5 milligrams (mg) of sodium per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving or, in the case of a meal product or a main dish product, less than 5 mg of sodium per labeled serving; and ( ii ) The food contains no ingredient that is sodium chloride or is generally understood by consumers to contain sodium, 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 sodium,” “adds a negligible amount of sodium” or “adds a dietarily insignificant amount of sodium;” 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 the sodium content, it is labeled to disclose that sodium is not usually present in the food (e.g., “leaf lettuce, a sodium free food”).

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-D/section-101.61

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/).