The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday (Sep 28) proposed new rules to label packaged foods as “healthy” as it seeks to help people make informed nutritional choices that can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
The proposed changes to food labeling come on the day of the first White House summit on hunger, nutrition and health in more than 50 years.
Under the new proposal, packaged goods will be allowed to carry the “healthy” label as long as they contain a certain amount of food from at least one of the groups recommended by current dietary guidelines, with specific limits on saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. .
More than 80 percent of the US population has not been eating enough vegetables, fruits and dairy products, while consuming unhealthy amounts of added sugars, saturated fat and sodium in their diet, the FDA said.
“Too many people may not know what constitutes a healthy meal. The FDA move will help educate more Americans,” US HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
The agency said it was also looking to design a logo for manufacturers to display on products that meet the FDA’s healthy criteria to help consumers easily identify and select the right items.
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