Keep “less than 1 g” as an inequality
Scale a label's upper bound to a new portion without turning an unknown amount into an exact zero or one.
A label that says “less than 1 g” gives a bound, not an exact quantity. Entering it as either 0 g or 1 g changes the meaning. If you scale the portion, scale the bound while keeping the uncertainty visible.
The FDA Food Labeling Guide, including its nutrient-rounding examples, illustrates less-than declarations. This worksheet explains the arithmetic of such wording; it is not a full guide to current labeling compliance.
Scale a bound without guessing the value
Suppose a hypothetical label declares less than 1 g of a named nutrient per 40 g serving. For an 80 g amount, the serving multiplier is two. The corresponding result remains less than 2 g, assuming the quantity scales with the same food composition.
For a 20 g portion, the multiplier is one half, so the result is less than 0.5 g. Neither calculation identifies a precise amount. A value of 0.2 g and a value of 0.8 g per original serving would both satisfy the original wording but produce different portion totals.
Compare carefully when ranges overlap
Imagine product B reports 0.7 g per the same 40 g quantity in a hypothetical data record. You cannot determine which product has more from A's “less than 1 g” statement alone. A could be below or above 0.7 g while still meeting its stated bound.
The honest comparison is “not enough precision to rank these amounts.” Avoid placing A automatically above B by treating its upper limit as the observed amount.
Preserve the operator in your notes
Use separate fields for operator, value, and unit: “less than,” “1,” and “g.” Keep the serving quantity in another field. This structure is easier to scale correctly than a text string that a spreadsheet silently strips down to the number one.
If a simple calculator accepts only exact numbers, do not force this declaration into its input. Perform the bound calculation separately and label the output clearly. A comparison tool should indicate an unsupported input rather than pretend that missing precision has been resolved.
The same discipline applies when copying a label from a photograph: preserve the less-than wording, the nutrient name, and the associated column. Cropping away the operator can change a cautious statement into a false exact measurement.