FDA proposes to update the definition of ‘healthy’ on food labeling for US food market

The proposed rule would update the definition for the implied nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ to better account for how all the nutrients in various food groups contribute and may work synergistically to create healthy dietary patterns and improve health. Under the proposed definition for the updated “healthy” claim, which is based on current nutrition science, more foods that are part of a healthy dietary pattern and recommended by the Dietary Guidelines would be eligible to use the claim on their labeling, including nuts and seeds, higher fat fish (such as salmon), certain oils and water.

 Under the proposed definition, a product can be labeled with a “healthy” claim on packaging if it:

• Contains a certain meaningful amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (e.g., fruit, vegetable, dairy, etc.) recommended by the Dietary Guidelines.
• Adheres to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. The threshold for the limits is based on a percent of the Daily Value (DV) for the nutrient and varies depending on the food and food group. The limit for sodium is 10% of the DV per serving (230 milligrams per serving).

Either electronic or written comments on the proposed rules must be submitted by December 28, 2022.

Moreover, future planned actions are also mentioned:

• Developing a front-of-package (FOP) labeling system to quickly and more easily communicate nutrition information to empower consumers to make healthy decisions.
• Facilitating making nutrition information easily available when grocery shopping online.
• Facilitating lowering the sodium content of food in the food supply, including by issuing revised, lower voluntary sodium reduction targets for industry.
• Holding a public meeting regarding future steps the federal government could take to facilitate lowering added sugar consumption.
• Releasing additional education and outreach efforts to ensure that parents and caregivers are aware of the latest recommendations for healthy eating in young children and for taking steps to reduce exposure to toxic elements in food.

To know more, you can consult the news from the FDA.

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