'No added sugar', 'natural', 'high in protein': what EU food claims really mean
Some claims on food packaging are legally defined and audited. Others are pure marketing. Here's how to tell which is which under EU law — and where the wiggle room hides.
The front of a food package is advertising; the back is where the truth is. In the EU, nutrition and health claims are governed by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, which means some phrases have strict legal definitions — and others are marketing language with no fixed meaning at all. Knowing the difference changes how you read a shelf.
Claims that are legally defined
- "High in protein" — allowed only when at least 20% of the product's energy comes from protein. "Source of protein" needs at least 12%.
- "No added sugar" — means no sugars or sweetening ingredients were added. It does not mean sugar-free: the product can still be naturally high in sugar (fruit juice is the classic example).
- "Low fat" / "fat-free" — "low fat" caps fat at 3 g per 100 g for solids; "fat-free" means under 0.5 g. A "low fat" product can still be high in sugar to compensate.
- "Reduced" X — requires at least a 30% reduction versus a comparable product, but the comparison baseline can be generous.
Claims with no fixed legal meaning
"Natural", "wholesome", "farm-fresh", "artisan", "clean" and similar words are largely marketing. They're constrained by general rules against misleading consumers, but there's no specific numeric threshold behind them. Treat them as tone, not information. Our guide to food claims goes deeper on each.
The trick with a true-but-selective claim
The most common tactic is a claim that's technically true but distracts from the whole picture: "no added sugar" on a product that's still ultra-processed and salty, or "high in protein" on a bar that's a Group 4 ultra-processed product held together with sweeteners. The claim isn't a lie — it's just answering a different question than the one that matters for your goals.
That's exactly why reading a single front-of-pack claim isn't enough. Scanning the barcode with Forkin shows you the nutrition grade, the processing level, the additives and the environmental score together — so a true-but-selective claim can't set the whole narrative. You can also cross-check any additive in our public additive index.