FDA Fiber Nutrient Content Claim Regulations

The FDA has a set of guidelines that helps consumers determine what is in a specific food product--like fiber--before they purchase it. These guidelines come with a set of regulations that help food manufacturers and distributors label their products correctly so health-conscious consumers know what is in the food they are eating and if it is healthy for them or not.

RACC

• RACC is an acronym that stands for Reference Amount that is Customarily Consumed (RACC). This is the amount or serving size that people normally eat, as well as the amount of vitamins, minerals and fiber that the food contains. There are certain minerals and vitamins the FDA has determined to be needed on a daily basis for an adult to remain healthy. The percentage of a daily value tells the consumer how much of a type of nutrient, such as 100 percent of Vitamin A or 10 percent of Phosphorous, for example, that the food has. This amount can help the consumer determine how much more of a certain nutrient they need to consume during the rest of the day's meals. Food labels give percentages of daily amounts of vitamins, minerals, fiber, sodium, calories, total fat and sugars. All of this information is provided on a food's packaging under the Nutrition Facts table printed on the food package's label. Fresh fruits and vegetables usually tend to not be labeled but you can find their nutrition facts online.

Claims

• Food products that have the claims "Excellent Source of," "High In," or "Rich In" on their labels must contain 20 percent or more of the daily value per Reference Amount that is Customarily Consumed (RACC). These claims may be used on main dishes or meals to indicate they meet this definition.

  Food products labeled with "Contains," "Good Source of," "Provides," must have 10 to 19 percent of the daily value of RACC.

Other Claims

• Food products with "Added," "Enriched," "Extra," "Fortified," "More," and "Plus" on their labels must contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of RACC. These claims may only be used for potassium, protein, dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins.

Fiber

• If a fiber claim is made and the food is not low in total fat, it must have labeled the amount of total fat per serving.

Healthy

• If a food is labeled healthy then it must contain at least 10 percent of daily value of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein and fiber and may be enriched cereal-grain products. Raw fruits and vegetables as well as frozen or canned single-ingredient fruits and vegetables may be labeled healthy. A main dish must contain at least 10 percent of the daily value of two nutrients and a meal product must contain three nutrients that are listed above.