New FDA Policy on Food Labeling
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2003-08-28 07:53:09
Consumers can expect to see scores of new health claims in food ads and labels in the coming months.
A controversial new FDA policy allows food processors to make claims for their products that are backed by less than "significant scientific agreement," as currently required under federal law.
The less stringent policy lets manufacturers apply for a range of health claims, from A for "significant scientific agreement" down to D for claims with "little scientific evidence."
Consumer groups and the American Medical Association say the policy lets manufacturers use misleading and confusing claims.
The FDA says the more relaxed standards will help consumers select foods with ingredients that promise real health benefits.
AARP wants the FDA "to require each manufacturer to test the language it wants to use in its health claim to prove consumers understand what is being said," says senior legislative analyst Jo Reed.
The FDA will also require manufacturers to list the amount of artery-clogging trans fat on their product labels by 2006. Walter Willett, M.D., who chairs the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, applauds the move, but adds that consumers need not wait to reduce trans fat intakes. Read the ingredient labels, he says, and avoid foods with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
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