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A “sugar free” claim requires less than 0.5 grams of sugars per reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) and per labeled serving. In addition, because consumers may reasonably expect that a food represented as containing no sugars or sweeteners is also a product that is low in calories or significantly reduced in calories, a food may not be labeled as “sugar free” unless it is also labeled “low calorie” or “reduced calorie” or the “sugar free” claim is immediately accompanied by one of the following disclaimers: “not a reduced calorie food,” “not a low calorie food,” or “not for weight control.”

If a food bearing a “sugar free” claim contains an ingredient that is a sugar or that is generally understood by consumers to contain sugars, then the listing of that ingredient in the ingredient statement must be followed by an asterisk that refers to a statement below the list of ingredients, “adds a trivial amount of sugar,” “adds a negligible amount of sugar,” or “adds a dietarily insignificant amount of sugar.”

Synonyms for “sugar free” are “free of sugar,” “no sugar,” “zero sugar,” “without sugar,” “sugarless,” “trivial source of sugar,” “negligible source of sugar,” and “dietarily insignificant source of sugar.”

The terms “no added sugar,” “without added sugar,” or “no sugar added” may be used only if no amount of sugar is added and no ingredient that contains sugars that functionally substitute for added sugars is added. An example of a functional substitute for added sugars would be adding concentrated fruit juice. Ingredients that contain added sugars such as jam or jelly also count as added sugar. In addition, the food cannot have been processed to increase the sugars content, such as by the use of enzymes. Finally, the claim may only be made when the food that it resembles and for which it substitutes normally contains added sugars. If the food does not meet the definition of “low calorie” or “calorie reduced,” then the label must direct consumers’ attention to the nutrition panel for further information on sugar and calorie content.