Food packaging carries two kinds of language, printed in the same typeface and sitting an inch apart. One kind is defined in federal regulation, and a manufacturer using it has to meet a specific test. The other kind has no definition at all, which is why it appears so often.
Telling them apart is most of the skill. Here are eight, in rough order of how much confusion each causes.
1. Natural
The one people trust most and the one carrying the least weight. For most foods it has no formal definition, and the working expectation is only that nothing artificial or synthetic was added that you would not expect to be there. It says nothing about how the food was grown, whether it was heavily processed, or how much sugar it contains.
Meat and poultry are handled separately and slightly more strictly, which is why the word behaves differently in the butcher case than in the cereal aisle.
2. No added sugar
This one is defined and it is honest, as far as it goes. It means no sugars were added during processing, including juice concentrates used as sweeteners.
What it does not mean is low in sugar. A carton of fruit juice with no added sugar can carry as much sugar per serving as a soft drink, because the fruit brought it. The Nutrition Facts panel settles this in five seconds and now separates total sugars from added sugars, which is the single most useful change to that panel in years.
3. Light, or lite
Defined, but relative, and the comparison is to the manufacturer's own regular version rather than to anything absolute. It generally means a meaningful reduction in calories or fat against that reference product.
So a light version of an unusually rich product can still be richer than an ordinary competitor. The word is also used to describe color or texture, in which case the label has to say so.
4. Good source of, and excellent source of
Both are defined by how much of the Daily Value one serving provides. A good source clears a modest threshold. An excellent source clears roughly double it.
These are reliable phrases, and they are also the reason a cereal can advertise a dozen vitamins: fortification is cheap, and adding a measured dose of something to a product lets it carry the claim. The vitamins are really there. They just do not tell you anything about the other ingredients.
5. Supports immune health, and phrases like it
This is a structure or function claim, and it occupies a deliberate middle ground. It describes an effect on the body without claiming to treat or prevent a disease, and it does not require the pre-market review that a disease claim would.
The giveaway is the disclaimer in small type saying the statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, which appears most often on supplements. Read the phrase literally and it is usually true and nearly empty: a nutrient involved in immune function supports immune function, in the same way that a brick supports a house.
6. Made with whole grain
Undefined as a quantity. A product can be made with whole grain and contain very little of it.
The ingredient list answers the question. Ingredients appear by weight, so if a whole grain is first, the claim is substantial. If it appears fourth, behind refined flour and two sweeteners, the phrase on the front is describing a gesture. Watch also for the word blend, which frequently means a small proportion of the good thing mixed into the ordinary one.
7. Organic
Strongly defined, certified, and audited. The Department of Agriculture runs the certification, and the tiers matter: one hundred percent organic, organic, and made with organic ingredients each permit a different composition.
What the label reports is the growing and handling method. It is not a nutrition claim, and an organic cookie is a cookie.
8. Clinically proven
Not a regulated phrase, which surprises people. Advertising claims still have to be backed by evidence, and that side of it is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission rather than by anyone checking the label itself.
The useful question is proven to do what, and against what. A study can show a real, measured, and completely trivial effect. If the packaging does not say what was measured, it is a phrase rather than a finding.
The animal words, briefly
These belong in their own group because they are governed differently and are the ones most often assumed to mean more than they do.
Cage-free means the birds were not in cages. It says nothing about outdoor access or space. Free-range adds outdoor access, without specifying how much or for how long. Pasture-raised has no single federal definition, and where it means something it is usually because a private certifier stands behind it.
Grass-fed on beef describes diet, and the strength of it depends on whether the animals were finished on grain in the last months. Hormone claims on poultry and pork are close to meaningless, since hormones are not permitted in raising either, which is why those packages carry an asterisk explaining exactly that.
The reliable signal in this group is a third-party certification mark, because someone has audited a written standard. The words alone are describing an intention.
The two panels that settle most of it
Everything above is on the front of the package, where the design budget goes. Two things on the back and side do the actual work.
The ingredient list is ordered by weight, so the first three items are most of what you are buying. The Nutrition Facts panel gives you the serving size, which is where a surprising amount of trouble hides: a bottle that looks like one drink is often labeled as two and a half, and every number on the panel is per serving.
Check the serving size first, then the first three ingredients, then the added sugars line. Three glances, in that order. It takes about as long as reading a single claim on the front, and it will not be marketing.