What Does “Low Fat” Actually Mean?
Turkey Breast (roasted, no skin) and Peas and Rice (Bahamian) sit about as close as two foods can get on fat content, 3.2g versus 3.0g per 100g. That 0.2g gap is also the exact line UK law draws for whether a food can legally be called “low fat.” One clears it. The other, at 3.2g, misses by a fraction of a gram.
The real number: 3g per 100g, or 1.5g per 100ml for liquids
Under the same Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims already covered in our other articles, the exact wording is: “A claim that a food is low in fat… may only be made where the product does not contain more than 3g of fat per 100g for solids or 1.5g of fat per 100ml for liquids.” Three grams, not a rounder “under 5” or “under 4” approximation, and, like our low calorie article’s own two numbers, a separate, lower threshold for liquids.
Still UK law after Brexit, with one real regional difference
This regulation didn’t disappear when the UK left the EU. In Great Britain it’s now retained EU law, carried over by the Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and 2020, and enforced through the UK’s own system rather than an EU one. In Northern Ireland it still applies directly as EU law, under the terms of the Windsor Framework. Same rule, same numbers, two different legal routes to the same answer.
It governs labelling, not a verdict on a food
Same caveat as our other articles in this series: this is a rule about what can be printed on packaging or in marketing, a specific legal test for a specific claim. A food sitting just over 3g of fat, like Turkey Breast at 3.2g, isn’t suddenly a poor food choice; it genuinely just can’t carry the words “low fat” under this specific rule, even by a margin as small as 0.2g.
Where you will see it used on this site
Our own Low Fat badge applies both real thresholds, the same way our Low Calorie and Low Sugar badges already do. Peas and Rice (Bahamian), at exactly 3.0g, genuinely qualifies and appears on our Legumes & Pulses Low Fat page; Turkey Breast (roasted, no skin), at 3.2g, genuinely doesn’t. The same real, separate liquid figure applies to drinks: Laban, a salted buttermilk drink, clears the 3g solid rule at 2g of fat per 100ml but genuinely fails the real 1.5g-per-100ml liquid threshold; Doogh, a yoghurt soda drink, at 0.5g per 100ml, comfortably clears both. Check them all for yourself.
*This article is general information, not legal advice. Food labelling law changes and gets re-interpreted over time, so check an official source directly if you need this for your own business’s compliance.