Table 1. Nutrient definitions and health risks.

Nutrient	Definition	Health risk with excessive intakes	Comments
SAFA	The sum of all types and sources of saturated fatty acids	Cardiovascular diseases, blood lipids (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003; Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Fats and Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition, 2008; Elmadfa and Kornsteiner, 2009)
TFA	All the geometrical isomers of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids with non-conjugated, double carbon–carbon conjugations in the trans-configuration, and which are separated by at least one methylene group. Natural trans-fatty acids from meat and milk are excluded	Coronary heart disease, blood lipids (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003; Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Fats and Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition, 2008; Elmadfa and Kornsteiner, 2009)	There are no limiting criteria for naturally occurring trans-fatty acids in dairy and meat, because these are difficult to influence through product reformulation. The saturated fat criteria defined for dairy and meat are considered sufficient to define the healthier options
Sodium	This includes both added sodium (for example, by salt or MSG) and sodium that is naturally present in one of the ingredients (for example, in yeast extract, protein hydrolysates)	Cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003; Strazullo et al., 2009)
Added sugar	All monosaccharides, disaccharides and polyols with a caloric value of >3.5 kcal/g, from sources other than fruit, vegetables and milk products. This also includes natural sugars such as honey, syrups and (more than twice) concentrated fruit drinks It is assumed that ‘added sugar' is the same as ‘free sugar'	Dental diseases, obesity (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003)	There are no physiological arguments to distinguish free or added sugar from total sugar. Added sugars, however, can be manipulated by manufacturers. In addition, fruit- and milk-based products should not be penalized for their intrinsic sugar content. Products high in free/added sugars are often nutrient-poor and energy-dense providing the so-called ‘empty calories'
Energy	The amount of energy from food products that is available for the metabolism of the body, expressed in kJ or kcal	Obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003)
		Health risks with too low intakes
Dietary fibre	The collective term for those substances that are not digested or taken up by the human small intestine and which have the chemical character of carbohydrates (suitable for human consumption) or compounds analogous to carbohydrates (see Codex)	Cardiovascular diseases, blood lipids, obesity (Joint WHO/FAO consultation, 2003) Insufficient micronutrient intakes with plant-based diets (Pascoe and Fulcher, 2008)	Codex fibre definition is currently under revision (Cummings et al., 2009) Source of fibre should be the main ingredients of the product

Abbreviations: MSG, monosodium glutamate; SAFA, saturated fatty acids; TFA, trans-fatty acids.