[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 9, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 9CFR317.361]

[Page 221-223]
 
                  TITLE 9--ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
 
     CHAPTER III--FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 317_LABELING, MARKING DEVICES, AND CONTAINERS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart B_Nutrition Labeling
 
Sec. 317.361  Nutrient content claims for the sodium content.

    (a) General requirements. A claim about the level of sodium in a 
product may only be made on the label or in labeling of the product if:
    (1) The claim uses one of the terms defined in this section in 
accordance with the definition for that term;
    (2) The claim is made in accordance with the general requirements 
for nutrient content claims in Sec. 317.313; and
    (3) The product for which the claim is made is labeled in accordance 
with Sec. 317.309.
    (b) Sodium content claims. (1) The terms ``sodium free,'' ``free of 
sodium,'' ``no sodium,'' ``zero sodium,'' ``without sodium,'' ``trivial 
source of sodium,'' ``negligible source of sodium,'' or ``dietarily 
insignificant source of sodium'' may be used on the label or in labeling 
of products, provided that:
    (i) The product contains less than 5 milligrams (mg) of sodium per 
reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving size or, 
in the case of a meal-type product or a main-

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dish product, less than 5 mg of sodium per labeled serving size;
    (ii) The product contains no ingredient that is sodium chloride or 
is generally understood by consumers to contain sodium unless the 
listing of the ingredient in the ingredients 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) If the product meets these conditions without the benefit of 
special processing, alteration, formulation, or reformulation to lower 
the sodium content, it is labeled to clearly refer to all products of 
its type and not merely to the particular brand to which the label 
attaches.
    (2) The terms ``very low sodium'' or ``very low in sodium'' may be 
used on the label or in labeling of products, except meal-type products 
as defined in Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish products as defined in 
Sec. 317.313(m), provided that:
    (i)(A) The product has a reference amount customarily consumed 
greater than 30 grams (g) or greater than 2 tablespoons (tbsp) and 
contains 35 mg or less sodium per reference amount customarily consumed; 
or
    (B) The product has a reference amount customarily consumed of 30 g 
or less or 2 tbsp or less and contains 35 mg or less sodium per 
reference amount customarily consumed and per 50 g (for dehydrated 
products that must be reconstituted before typical consumption with 
water or a diluent containing an insignificant amount, as defined in 
Sec. 317.309(f)(1), of all nutrients per reference amount customarily 
consumed, the per-50-g criterion refers to the ``as prepared'' form); 
and
    (ii) If the product meets these conditions without the benefit of 
special processing, alteration, formulation, or reformulation to lower 
the sodium content, it is labeled to clearly refer to all products of 
its type and not merely to the particular brand to which the label 
attaches.
    (3) The terms defined in paragraph (b)(2) of this section may be 
used on the label or in labeling of a meal-type product as defined in 
Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish product as defined in Sec. 317.313(m), 
provided that:
    (i) The product contains 35 mg or less of sodium per 100 g of 
product; and
    (ii) If the product meets this condition without the benefit of 
special processing, alteration, formulation, or reformulation to lower 
the sodium content, it is labeled to clearly refer to all products of 
its type and not merely to the particular brand to which the label 
attaches.
    (4) The terms ``low sodium,'' ``low in sodium,'' ``little sodium,'' 
``contains a small amount of sodium,'' or ``low source of sodium'' may 
be used on the label and in labeling of products, except meal-type 
products as defined in Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish products as 
defined in Sec. 317.313(m), provided that:
    (i)(A) The product has a reference amount customarily consumed 
greater than 30 g or greater than 2 tbsp and contains 140 mg or less 
sodium per reference amount customarily consumed; or
    (B) The product has a reference amount customarily consumed of 30 g 
or less or 2 tbsp or less and contains 140 mg or less sodium per 
reference amount customarily consumed and per 50 g (for dehydrated 
products that must be reconstituted before typical consumption with 
water or a diluent containing an insignificant amount, as defined in 
Sec. 317.309(f)(1), of all nutrients per reference amount customarily 
consumed, the per-50-g criterion refers to the ``as prepared'' form); 
and
    (ii) If the product meets these conditions without the benefit of 
special processing, alteration, formulation, or reformulation to lower 
the sodium content, it is labeled to clearly refer to all products of 
its type and not merely to the particular brand to which the label 
attaches.
    (5) The terms defined in paragraph (b)(4) of this section may be 
used on the label or in labeling of a meal-type product as defined in 
Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish product as defined in Sec. 317.313(m), 
provided that:
    (i) The product contains 140 mg or less sodium per 100 g of product; 
and
    (ii) If the product meets these conditions without the benefit of 
special processing, alteration, formulation, or

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reformulation to lower the sodium content, it is labeled to clearly 
refer to all products of its type and not merely to the particular brand 
to which the label attaches.
    (6) The terms ``reduced sodium,'' ``reduced in sodium,'' ``sodium 
reduced,'' ``less sodium,'' ``lower sodium,'' or ``lower in sodium'' may 
be used on the label or in labeling of products, except meal-type 
products as defined in Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish products as 
defined in Sec. 317.313(m), provided that:
    (i) The product contains at least 25 percent less sodium per 
reference amount customarily consumed than an appropriate reference 
product as described in Sec. 317.313(j)(1); and
    (ii) As required in Sec. 317.313(j)(2) for relative claims:
    (A) The identity of the reference product and the percent (or 
fraction) that the sodium differs between the two products are declared 
in immediate proximity to the most prominent such claim (e.g., ``reduced 
sodium `product', 50 percent less sodium than regular `product' ''); and
    (B) Quantitative information comparing the level of sodium in the 
product per labeled serving size with that of the reference product that 
it replaces is declared adjacent to the most prominent claim or to the 
nutrition information (e.g., ``sodium content has been lowered from 300 
to 150 mg per serving'').
    (iii) Claims described in paragraph (b)(6) of this section may not 
be made on the label or in labeling of a product if the nutrient content 
of the reference product meets the definition for ``low sodium.''
    (7) The terms defined in paragraph (b)(6) of this section may be 
used on the label or in labeling of a meal-type product as defined in 
Sec. 317.313(l) and main-dish product as defined in Sec. 317.313(m), 
provided that:
    (i) The product contains at least 25 percent less sodium per 100 g 
of product than an appropriate reference product as described in Sec. 
317.313(j)(1); and
    (ii) As required in Sec. 317.313(j)(2) for relative claims:
    (A) The identity of the reference product and the percent (or 
fraction) that the sodium differs between the two products are declared 
in immediate proximity to the most prominent such claim (e.g., ``reduced 
sodium `product'--30% less sodium per 3 oz than our `regular product' 
''); and
    (B) Quantitative information comparing the level of sodium in the 
product per specified weight with that of the reference product that it 
replaces is declared adjacent to the most prominent claim or to the 
nutrition information (e.g., ``sodium content has been reduced from 220 
mg per 3 oz to 150 mg per 3 oz'').
    (iii) Claims described in paragraph (b)(7) of this section may not 
be made on the label or in labeling of products if the nutrient content 
of the reference product meets the definition for ``low sodium.''
    (c) The term ``salt'' is not synonymous with ``sodium.'' Salt refers 
to sodium chloride. However, references to salt content such as 
``unsalted,'' ``no salt,'' ``no salt added'' are potentially misleading.
    (1) The term ``salt free'' may be used on the label or in labeling 
of products only if the product is ``sodium free'' as defined in 
paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
    (2) The terms ``unsalted,'' ``without added salt,'' and ``no salt 
added'' may be used on the label or in labeling of products only if:
    (i) No salt is added during processing;
    (ii) The product that it resembles and for which it substitutes is 
normally processed with salt; and
    (iii) If the product is not sodium free, the statement, ``not a 
sodium free product'' or ``not for control of sodium in the diet'' 
appears adjacent to the nutrition information of the product bearing the 
claim.
    (3) Paragraph (c)(2) of this section shall not apply to a factual 
statement that a product intended specifically for infants and children 
less than 2 years of age is unsalted, provided such statement refers to 
the taste of the product and is not false or otherwise misleading.

[60 FR 192, Jan. 3, 1995, as amended at 69 FR 58802, Oct. 1, 2004]

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