Definitions: nutrient content claims
Reference food of the same food group
"Reference food of the same food group" means a food which can be substituted in the diet for the food to which it is compared, and which belongs [B.01.500, FDR]:
- to the same food group as the food to which it is compared (e.g., cheese as a reference food for milk, or chicken as a reference food for tofu);
- to the category of "other foods", if the food to which it is compared also belongs to that category (e.g., pretzels as a reference food for potato chips); or
- to the category of combination foods, if the food to which it is compared also belongs to that category (e.g., pizza as a reference food for lasagna).
These reference foods in the same food group do not have to be similar; they are used to make comparative claims, such as "lower in energy", "lower in fat", or "lower in saturated fatty acids". A comparative claim might state, for example, that "our pretzels contain 90% less fat than our regular potato chips."
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