FDA releases final rule on labeling ‘healthy’
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a final rule to guide manufacturers on how they can voluntarily claim a product is “healthy.”
“The ‘healthy’ claim can empower consumers by providing a quick signal on food package labels to help consumers identify foundational foods for building healthy dietary patterns,” FDA said in an announcement.
“The updated criteria for the ‘healthy’ claim are aligned with current nutrition science, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the updated Nutrition Facts label, which requires the declaration of added sugars,” FDA explained.
“The updated criteria for the ‘healthy’ claim include nutrients to limit and identifies foods that help consumers to build a diet consistent with current recommendations.”
To bear the “healthy” claim, a food product needs to:
• Contain a certain amount of food (food group equivalent) from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (such as fruits, vegetables, fat-free and low-fat dairy etc.) recommended by the Dietary Guidelines.
• Adhere to specified limits for the following nutrients: saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.
FDA added, “As an example, to include the ‘healthy’ claim on the package, a cereal needs to contain a certain amount of whole grains and adhere to limits for saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.”
“Nuts and seeds, higher fat fish, such as salmon, certain oils and water are examples of foods that did not qualify for the ‘healthy’ claim before but are foundational to a healthy eating pattern and recommended by the Dietary Guidelines. These foods now qualify to bear the ‘healthy’ claim. Many foods that fit into a range of budgets such as some peanut butters and canned fruits and vegetables also qualify.
“Manufacturers who choose to use the ‘healthy’ claim have three years to conform but can use the new criteria sooner.”
The American Heart Association expressed enthusiasm for the rule, but the Sugar Association and the International Dairy Foods Association did not.
American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said, “The updated definition should give consumers more confidence when they see the ‘healthy’ claim while grocery shopping, and we hope it will motivate food manufacturers to develop new, healthier products that qualify to use the ‘healthy’ claim.
“Although the updated ‘healthy’ claim is an important update to food labeling, it is voluntary and may only appear on a small number of food and beverage packages,” Brown said.
“That’s why the FDA’s work on front-of-pack nutrition labeling is so important. A front-of-pack labeling system based on the best available science and consumer research would give consumers valuable information about the nutritional value of foods and beverages and help them quickly and easily identify healthier options. We urge the administration to move forward with a proposed rule for a front-of-pack nutrition labeling system.”
Sugar Association President and CEO Courtney Gaine said, “The Sugar Association supports the Dietary Guidelines recommendation to limit added sugars to 10% of total calories, but the new ‘healthy’ definition goes well beyond that recommendation and arbitrarily excludes many foods containing added sugars that are key providers of essential nutrients, such as fruit yogurt.”
“With this rule, FDA is once again incentivizing further use of industrial additives like low- and no-calorie sweeteners in food, which have proliferated over the last several decades, going well beyond their well-known and easily-identifiable role in beverages and now showing up as unidentifiable chemical names buried on ingredient lists for foods — including in food for children.
“Three in four Americans believe that foods containing artificial sweeteners should not be labeled as ‘healthy.'”
Roberta Wagner, senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association, said, “With this rule, FDA missed an important opportunity to help shoppers at all income levels choose healthier food options for their families.”
“Instead, the rule is so narrow that few foods, including many nutrient dense dairy products, will be able to bear the claim.
“FDA notes 79% of Americans are not eating enough dairy or getting dairy’s 13 essential nutrients, and yet this new rule puts nutritious dairy further out of reach for Americans of all backgrounds and income levels.
“We recommend FDA rethink their approach to ensure a wide variety of nutrient dense foods accessible to Americans from all backgrounds can bear the claim. We urge FDA reopen this rule for comment with the intent of creating practical policy that benefits all people and families,” Wagner said.
The rule was the subject of widespread news coverage. Several publications noted that salmon is eligible for the “healthy” label, but white bread is not.
