Regulatory warning seals: criteria and application

Learn which warning seals Colombian regulations require, the exact thresholds SATN uses to evaluate each one, and how they appear in exported reports.

Warning seals (“sellos de advertencia”) are mandatory front-of-pack labels that must appear on packaged food products in Colombia when certain nutritional thresholds are exceeded. SATN automatically evaluates every product against the five seal types defined in Resolución 254 de 2023 and Resolución 810 de 2021, and includes the results in the Word product report. Understanding how each seal is triggered helps you anticipate labeling requirements early in the product development process.

Regulatory basis

Resolución 254 de 2023 establishes the nutritional labeling system for packaged food and beverages sold in Colombia. It defines the warning seal system as a front-of-pack mechanism to help consumers identify products high in critical nutrients. Resolución 810 de 2021 specifies the thresholds and technical criteria that determine when each seal is required.

SATN applies these criteria automatically after calculating the product’s nutritional composition from the recipe. You do not need to manually assess whether a seal applies — the system performs the evaluation and records it in the report.

The five warning seals

Sodio (Sodium)

The sodium seal is required under any of the following conditions:

• The product contains 300 mg or more of sodium per 100 g, OR
• The ratio of sodium (mg) to energy (kcal) is 1 or greater (i.e., at least 1 mg of sodium per 1 kcal), OR
• For beverages (products declared as liquid unit type): if the product has 0 kcal and contains more than 40 mg of sodium.

The third condition specifically covers calorie-free beverages such as flavored waters or diet drinks that may still carry meaningful sodium content.

Azúcares (Sugars)

The sugar seal is required when the product has calories and sugars contribute a significant share of those calories:

Condition: Calories > 0, AND (total sugars × 4 ÷ total calories) × 100 ≥ 10%

In plain terms: if 10% or more of the product’s total caloric content comes from sugars (applying the standard 4 kcal/g conversion factor for carbohydrates), the seal is required.

If a product has zero calories, the sugar seal is not evaluated regardless of sugar content. This typically applies only to non-caloric beverages.

Grasas saturadas (Saturated fat)

The saturated fat seal is required when saturated fat contributes a significant share of the product’s calories:

Condition: Calories > 0, AND (saturated fat × 9 ÷ total calories) × 100 ≥ 10%

In plain terms: if 10% or more of the product’s total caloric content comes from saturated fat (applying the standard 9 kcal/g conversion factor for fats), the seal is required.

Grasas trans (Trans fat)

The trans fat seal applies at a much lower threshold than saturated fat, reflecting the greater health concern associated with trans fatty acids:

Condition: Calories > 0, AND (trans fat × 9 ÷ total calories) × 100 ≥ 1%

In plain terms: if 1% or more of the product’s total caloric content comes from trans fat, the seal is required.

Because the trans fat threshold is only 1%, even small amounts of trans fat in an ingredient can trigger this seal. Review the trans fat values for each ingredient in the ICBF table to anticipate this early.

Edulcorantes (Sweeteners)

The sweetener seal does not use a quantitative threshold. It is triggered by the presence of any sweetener ingredient in the recipe:

Condition: At least one ingredient in the product has the Es edulcorante flag set to Sí in the ICBF table.

Common sweeteners include stevia, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and similar non-caloric or low-caloric sugar substitutes. If an ingredient you use is a sweetener but its flag is not set in the database, you can update it — see Add and edit ingredients.

Products with no applicable seals

If none of the five conditions above are met, SATN records in the Word report that no warning seals are required for the product. The report will explicitly state this conclusion so that the absence of seals is documented rather than simply implied.

How seals appear in the Word report

In the Word product report, Section 2 lists each of the five seal types. For each seal, the report shows:

• Whether the seal applies to this product
• The calculated value used in the evaluation (e.g., the sodium mg/kcal ratio, or the sugar % of calories)
• For applicable seals: the official seal image as defined in Resolución 254/2023

This section is designed to serve as a complete audit trail — a reader can verify the assessment by checking the stated calculation against the declared nutritional values.