Last verified 17 Sep 2026 · Sources
“Low saturated fat” requires 1 gram or less of saturated fatty acids per Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC), and no more than 15 percent of the food’s calories coming from saturated fat (21 CFR 101.62(c)(2)(i)). Unlike almost every other “low” claim on the books, this one has no per-50-gram version for small-RACC foods; it’s tested per RACC only, full stop. The trap you’re most likely to hit is the percent-of-calories half of the test: your product can sit comfortably under 1 g of saturated fat and still fail because that gram represents too large a share of a very low-calorie RACC.
| Quick facts | Low saturated fat / Reduced saturated fat |
|---|---|
| Regulation | 21 CFR 101.62(c)(2) |
| Threshold | ≤1 g sat fat/RACC, ≤15% cal from sat fat (no 50 g test); meal/main ≤1 g/100 g, <10% cal |
| Claim type | absolute (low); relative (reduced, needs a reference food) |
| Reference food needed | No for 'low'; Yes for 'reduced' |
| Disclosure statement | Yes, if fat >13 g, sat fat >4 g, cholesterol >60 mg or sodium >480 mg per RACC, per labeled serving, or per 50 g for small RACCs (21 CFR 101.13(h)(1)) |
| Wordings FDA allows | Low in saturated fat, Contains a small amount of saturated fat, Low source of saturated fat, A little saturated fat; reduced: Reduced saturated fat, Less saturated fat, Lower saturated fat, Saturated fat reduced |
What the rule says
21 CFR 101.62(c)(2)(i), read on eCFR: “The food contains 1 g or less of saturated fatty acids per reference amount customarily consumed and not more than 15 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids.” Allowed synonyms include “low in saturated fat,” “contains a small amount of saturated fat,” “low source of saturated fat,” and “a little saturated fat.”
For meal and main dish products, 21 CFR 101.62(c)(3)(i) substitutes a per-100-g basis: “The product contains 1 g or less of saturated fatty acids per 100 g and less than 10 percent calories from saturated fat”. Note the tighter 10 percent ceiling and the different denominator.
The relative version, “reduced saturated fat,” is a separate claim under 21 CFR 101.62(c)(4)(i): the food must contain “at least 25 percent less saturated fat per reference amount customarily consumed than an appropriate reference food.” As with any relative claim, 21 CFR 101.13(j)(2)(i) requires the label to “state the identity of the reference food and the percentage (or fraction) of the amount of the nutrient in the reference food by which the nutrient in the labeled food differs,” in immediate proximity to the most prominent claim, for example, “25% less saturated fat than our regular granola bars; saturated fat reduced from 4 g to 3 g per serving.” Reduced saturated fat is not available on a food that already qualifies as “low saturated fat” under (c)(2). The reference-food comparison exists to describe a real reformulation, not to relabel an already-low product.
If your food is inherently low in saturated fat without reformulation, 21 CFR 101.13(e)(2) requires wording that makes clear the whole category is that way, rather than implying your process achieved it. The rule’s parallel example is “corn oil, a sodium-free food.”
The numbers
Read the “low” threshold on eCFR carefully: it’s the only major “low” fat-family claim (fat, sodium, cholesterol, calories) with no small-RACC per-50-g variant. A cracker with a 15 g RACC that hits 1 g saturated fat and stays under 15 percent of calories from saturated fat qualifies at that RACC alone. There’s no additional per-50-g hurdle the way there is for low fat or low sodium at the same RACC size.
Rounding interacts here because saturated fat and calories both round under 21 CFR 101.9(c) before they reach the panel, but the claim is judged against the unrounded analyzed values, not the printed rounded ones. If your panel shows “1 g” saturated fat, the unrounded value could be 1.4 g, which would fail the ≤1 g claim threshold even though the panel doesn’t show it.
On the label
Take a granola bar with a 40 g RACC (21 CFR 101.12): an analyzed bar contains 1 g saturated fat and 150 calories, putting saturated fat calories at 9 (1 g × 9 kcal/g), or 6 percent of total calories, comfortably under 15 percent. Both conditions of 101.62(c)(2)(i) clear, so the label can read “Low Saturated Fat.” See a full build for this category at /product-labels/granola-bars/.
Mistakes we see
- Checking only the gram threshold, not the percent-of-calories test. A very low-calorie RACC can push saturated fat’s calorie share over 15 percent even when the gram number looks fine.
- Applying a per-50-g small-package test that doesn’t exist for this claim. That variant applies to low fat, low sodium, low cholesterol, and low calorie, not low saturated fat.
- Using “reduced saturated fat” without the comparative statement. 21 CFR 101.13(j)(2)(i) requires the reference food’s identity and the percent difference stated in immediate proximity to the claim, not buried elsewhere on the package.
- Comparing against the wrong reference food. The reference food has to be a similar, representative product in the same category (21 CFR 101.13(j)), not an unusually high-saturated-fat outlier that inflates the percent-less figure.
- Making the claim on a label relying on a small-package or low-volume exemption. 21 CFR 101.9(j) exemptions, (j)(13)(i) and (j)(18) among them, require no nutrient content claims; either “low” or “reduced” saturated fat voids that.
Related claims
See /claims/saturated-fat-free/ for the free-claim threshold, /claims/cholesterol-free/ and /claims/low-fat/ for related fat-family claims, /claims/reduced-fat/ for the comparative pattern, plus the general rules at /labeling-rules/nutrient-content-claims/ and /labeling-rules/rounding-rules/.
Check your label
The NutriLabels builder’s claims check runs your product’s saturated fat grams and calories against both halves of this threshold (the gram limit and the percent-of-calories limit) on every basis the rule names, and tells you exactly which wording your product qualifies for.
Running both halves of the test before you print keeps a low-calorie product from carrying a claim its calorie share can’t support. Enter your recipe, then see your label: free with no card required, you see your calories, the claims you qualify for, your allergen line and the nutrient to watch, and every other value and %DV stays hidden until you unlock it. $29 unlocks every other nutrient value and %DV, the claims check, every FDA format your product qualifies for, and the ingredient statement and allergen declaration. Start your label or see saturated fat free for the stricter claim.
Low saturated fat / Reduced saturated fat claim FAQ
Is there a per-50 g version of low saturated fat for small packages?
No. Unlike low fat, low sodium, and low cholesterol, low saturated fat under 21 CFR 101.62(c)(2)(i) has no per-50-g small-RACC test: only per RACC, with its own percent-of-calories condition.
What's the percent-of-calories math?
Multiply saturated fat grams by 9 calories per gram, divide by total calories in the RACC, and confirm the result is 15% or less (10% or less for meal/main dish products, tested per 100 g).
How much less does 'reduced saturated fat' require?
At least 25 percent less saturated fat per RACC than an appropriate reference food, per 21 CFR 101.62(c)(4)(i), plus the comparative statement identifying that reference food and the percent difference.
Does a reduced saturated fat claim need a total-fat disclosure on the label?
Not from 101.62(c) itself. That section, read on eCFR, carries no total-fat-disclosure clause the way the cholesterol claims in 101.62(d) do. The general disqualifying-level disclosure in 21 CFR 101.13(h)(1) can still apply if fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium exceeds the levels it sets.
Can a meal product use the same 1 g threshold as a single-food product?
No. Meal and main dish products get their own basis under 21 CFR 101.62(c)(3)(i): 1 g or less per 100 g and less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, not the per-RACC test.
Related claims
Saturated fat free, Cholesterol free, Low fat, Reduced fat. See the full all label claims.