The labels are intended to help consumers navigate nutrition labels more easily and make better choices in the supermarket. the proposed rule would align the definition of the “healthy” claim with current nutrition science, updating Nutrition facts label and the current Dietary Guidelines for Americansthe FDA said.
The agency is also developing a symbol that companies can voluntarily use to label food products that meet federal guidelines for the term “healthy.”
The announcement comes ahead of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on Wednesday. The conference is the first of its kind since 1969, when a summit hosted by the administration of President Richard M. Nixon led to major expansions of food stamps, school lunches and other programs credited with reducing hunger nationwide. and the provision of critical security. network during the pandemic.
Once finalized, the new FDA system will “quickly and easily communicate nutrition information” through tools such as “star ratings or traffic light schemes to promote equitable access to nutrition information and healthier options,” the House said. Blanca in a statement this week. The system “may also prompt the industry to reformulate its products to be healthier,” she said.
Six out of 10 American adults have lifestyle-related chronic diseases, often stemming from obesity and poor diet. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says these diseases are the leading cause of death and disability and a major factor in the nation’s $4.1 trillion in annual health care costs.
And the obesity epidemic is not moving in the right direction: Studies show that obesity, especially among children, increased significantly during the pandemic, with the greatest change among children ages 5 to 11, who gained an average of more than five pounds. Before the pandemic, about 36 percent of children ages 5 to 11 were overweight or obese; during the pandemic, which increased to 45.7 percent.
In In some Latin American countries, governments have instituted stricter food labeling laws, banning sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods in an effort to escape the obesity epidemic that has gripped the United States. In Chile, for example, foods high in added sugar, saturated fat, calories, and added sodium must display black stop signs. on the front of your packages. Nothing with black stop signs may be sold or promoted in schools or included in television commercials directed at children.
Groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest have long called for the FDA to adopt evidence-based, standardized, mandatory front-of-package labeling. They say front-of-pack nutrition labeling will reach more consumers than “Nutrition Facts” on the back of packages, helping them quickly make more beneficial food choices and spurring companies to reformulate products in a healthier direction. . According to nutrition experts, Americans typically consume too much sodium, added sugars and saturated fat in their packaged foods, so being able to quickly identify foods high or low in these nutrients would be a major public health benefit.
The Biden administration has backed FDA efforts to crack down on sodium consumption, strengthening the ad last year that would cause food companies and restaurants to reduce sodium in the foods they make by about 12 percent over the next two and a half years. In a parallel effort, the administration suggests that the FDA reduce Americans’ sugar intake “including potential voluntary targets” for sugar content from food manufacturers.
The new labeling language is sure to be controversial among food manufacturers that have sought to capitalize on Americans’ interest in healthier foods.
“The FDA’s definition of ‘healthy’ can only be successful if it is clear and consistent for manufacturers and understood by consumers,” Roberta Wagner, a spokeswoman for the industry organization Consumer Brands Association, said Tuesday.
But what constitutes a “healthy” meal is a thorny issue among nutrition experts. Would foods high in what many nutrition scientists call “good fats,” like almonds or avocados, be considered “unhealthy,” while artificially sweetened fruit snacks or sugar-sweetened reduced-fat yogurts might be considered “unhealthy?” healthy”?
The FDA began a public process to update the “healthy” nutrient content claim for food labeling in 2016. But critics have said dietary guidelines often haven’t focused on the right things. During the Trump administration, for example, the 2020 dietary guidelines committee It was forbidden to consider the health effects of consuming red meat, ultra-processed foods, and sodium.
Federal nutritional guidance has undergone some significant pendulum swings. For many years, recommendations were based on intuitive but incorrect thinking: Eating fat makes us fat. Consuming large amounts of cholesterol gives us high cholesterol.
The most recent guidelines put an emphasis on eating a plant-based diet, which includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. They take a hard line on limiting salt and saturated fat intake, but simply state that cholesterol is “not a nutrient of concern,” scrapping the long-standing 300-milligram-per-day limit.
