The label is intended to help consumers navigate nutrition labels more easily and make better choices at the grocery store. Proposed rule Align the definition of “healthy” claims with current nutritional science. nutrition information and now Dietary Guidelines for Americansthe FDA said.
The FDA is also developing symbols that companies can voluntarily use to label foods that meet federal guidelines for the term “healthy.”
announcement came Ahead of Wednesday’s White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health.the meeting is This is because a summit hosted by the administration of President Richard M. Nixon in 1969 led to a significant expansion of food stamps, school lunches, and other programs that reduced hunger nationwide and provided an important safety net. Known for Pandemic.
In a statement this week, the White House said that once the FDA’s new system is complete, it will “distribute nutritional information through tools such as star ratings and traffic light schemes to promote equitable access to nutritional information and healthier choices.” By adding vegetables and whole grains, or by developing new products that meet the latest definitions, the system will enable “industries to make their products healthier.” You can also encourage them to do something,” he said.
Six in ten American adults suffer from chronic lifestyle diseases, many of which result from obesity and an unbalanced diet. according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says these diseases are the leading causes of death and disability and are a major contributor to the $4.1 trillion in annual health care costs in the United States.
And the obesity epidemic is not headed in the right direction. study show That obesity has increased significantly during the pandemic, especially among children. Children aged 5 to 11 saw the biggest change, gaining an average of 5 pounds or more. Before the pandemic, about 36% of children aged 5 to 11 were considered overweight or obese. during the pandemic It increased to 45.7%.
of In some Latin American countries, governments have enacted stricter food labeling laws and opposed sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods in an attempt to escape the obesity epidemic that has swept the United States. , foods high in sugar, saturated fat, calories and sodium should be labeled with a black stop sign. on the front of the package. Anything with a black stop sign may not be sold or advertised in schools or included in television advertisements directed to children.
Groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest have long petitioned the FDA to adopt mandatory, standardized, evidence-based front-of-package labeling. Front-of-pack nutrition labeling reaches more consumers than back-of-pack “Nutrition Facts”, helping them make more beneficial food choices faster and helping companies reconfigure their products in a healthier direction. Americans generally consume too much sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats in processed foods, so being able to quickly identify foods high and low in these nutrients is essential, according to nutrition experts. is of great public health benefit.
The Biden administration supports and is stepping up the FDA’s efforts to crack down on sodium intake. announcement last year Food companies and restaurants will reduce sodium in food by about 12% over the next two and a half years. is proposing to the FDA to reduce the sugar consumption of
The new label language is sure to be controversial among food manufacturers looking to capitalize on Americans’ interest in healthier foods.
“The FDA’s definition of ‘healthy’ is clear and consistent for manufacturers and understandable to consumers,” said Roberta Wagner, spokeswoman for the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group. You will succeed only if you are
But what constitutes a “healthy” food is a touchy topic among nutrition experts. is considered “unhealthy”, but would artificially sweetened fruit snacks and low-fat sugar yogurt be considered “healthy”?
The proposal is not final and may face resistance from food manufacturers. Food manufacturers have sought to capitalize on the growing desire among consumers to eat healthier in recent years.
Sean McBride, founder of DSM Strategic Communications and former executive of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said: “The final rule goes far beyond a simple definition and creates a de facto nutritional profile regulatory scheme that will determine how foods can be manufactured for decades to come, so the details are important.”
Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says labeling the front of the package shows real promise, but it’s essential, simple, and nutrient-specific. He said such labeling would change consumer purchasing behavior and force companies to recalibrate their products to gain more favorable ratings. He said that unless the definition and labeling of healthy is very specific, some companies will force the system by “washing the health” to make unhealthy products look healthy. will try to operate
FDA started Publishing process Update “healthy” nutrient content claims on food labels in 2016. For example, during the Trump administration, the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Committee It was forbidden to consider the health effects of eating red meat, ultra-processed foods, and sodium.
Federal nutrition guidance is experiencing some major pendulum swings. For years, the recommendations were based on an intuitive but erroneous idea: eating fat makes you fat.
First defined by the FDA in 1994, “healthy” initially focused on fat content. In 2015, the agency sent snack bar maker Kind a warning letter about the company’s “healthy” label. The bar was mostly nuts and too much saturated fat. Nutrition experts and Kind filed a formal petition with the FDA to “update the rule on the term health when used as a nutrition label on food labels” to reflect current science. did.
In 2016, the FDA reversed its position, allowing Kind to use the term “healthy” and announced that the FDA would reconsider its definition of the term.
New FDA guidance released this week automatically allows whole fruits and vegetables to be claimed as “healthy,” while prepared foods meet the criteria for nutritional requirements and include added sugars, sodium and saturated fats. must meet the percentage limit of
“7 years after our application citizen petitionKind celebrates the FDA’s proposed updated regulatory definition of “healthy.” It’s a win for all of us.”
Recent dietary guidelines emphasize plant-based diets such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. However, it simply states that cholesterol is “not a nutrient of concern,” scrapping the long-standing 300-milligram-per-day limit.
