Until now, oranges have not been considered healthy, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This fruit contains 70 calories, 3 grams of fiber, and more than 100 percent of your daily recommended intake of vitamin C. However, the whole fruit does not qualify for the “healthy” label under existing FDA guidelines for the use of this term. The same goes for water, as do pistachios, bananas, and many other fresh foods.
But what we call “health” is about to change. Amendments to FDA regulations just announced this month will allow fish such as salmon as well as natural foods such as oranges to be considered health foods. What makes that word no longer useful? Foods with added sugar or saturated fat in excess of the amount allowed by regulation.
The first change in 30 years could mean many companies that call their breakfast cereals “healthy” will no longer use those words on their boxes. The agency is working on a “healthy” logo that can only be used if manufacturers meet the new standards, but that could take some time.
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The old rules for using the word “healthy” on food labels are that the food item must provide at least 10 percent of the established daily intake of a particular vitamin, calcium, iron, protein, or fiber; Saturated fat, total amount, could not exceed a certain limit. fat, sodium and cholesterol. Nutrients do not have to be naturally present in the product.
“Current rules are dangerously outdated and focus on 1980 dietary priorities around things like fat and saturated fat,” said Dr. F., a cardiologist at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a food expert. said Darish Mozaffarian, director of the Institute of Medicine. . He focused on the FDA’s 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Recommendations, saying the rules need to change because they no longer allow nutrients to be added to most foods as substitutes for naturally occurring nutrients. Ta. Therefore, for a healthy diet, oranges, which contain 100 percent of the recommended daily amount of natural vitamin C, are preferred over most orange juices, which drain the nutrient-rich pulp from the juice.
Revised rules to add health labels include whole foods (foods that have not gone through processes that may remove nutrients such as fiber), and low-sugar and low-saturation foods that contain enough protein, oils, grains, and vegetables. Promotes eating fatty foods. Or by the amount of fruit.
Under previous rules, products did not need to have low amounts of added sugar to be labeled as healthy. But the new rules do. For example, foods that meet the protein criteria (meat, seafood, beans, eggs, nuts, and seeds) should not contain more than 2 percent of the recommended daily amount of carbohydrates. This automatically eliminates, for example, chicken sausage with maple, which may have health benefits. Vegetable and fruit products should not have added sugar, and dairy and grain products can have up to 5 percent of the recommended daily intake. There are also strict limits on saturated fat content, which can be 5 or 10 percent of your daily intake, depending on the type of protein.
Why did the FDA choose to limit added sugar? The agency consulted with: 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report, The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are based on the same report. A scientific panel analyzed 23 studies and found that added sugar can increase overall calorie intake without the nutritional benefits you get from vegetables and whole grains. I did.
Data from 2013 to 2016 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that inspired this report shows that average sugar intake contributes at least 200 calories to the daily diet of all age and gender groups. It was shown that At the same time, most people were not eating in a way that met their food group and nutrient requirements.
However, food companies oppose the sugar standards, arguing that they could actually induce consumers to buy products containing more fat. Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy and federal affairs at the Consumer Brands Association, which represents most companies that sell packaged foods, said foods that can currently be described as “healthy” are banned from using the word because of their sugar content. If it is done, “Consumers may move toward full-flavor products that contain more saturated fat, sugar, and sodium.” In other words, fattier lasagna also doesn’t have a healthy label, so why would it be different? Should I choose lasagna?
Gallo continued, “The FDA’s proposed added sugars limits reflect an inaccurate understanding of the products available on the market and how stringent the FDA’s proposed added sugars thresholds are. There may be,” he added.
In fact, very few cereals or yogurts you’ll find on grocery store shelves meet your additional carbohydrate limits. After reviewing a draft of the new rule, the Consumer Brands Association noted that one of its member companies is applying the FDA’s proposed standards to 195 of its yogurt products and 104 of its cereals. Only three cereals and 24 yogurts had sugar levels considered healthy.
Nutrition experts are more optimistic about the new standard because the “healthy” label gives people an easier way to find healthy foods. “I can tell my patients that foods with healthy labels are safe. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to learn how to read a nutrition label.” It doesn’t take up much of your time, says Courtney Peritella, a registered dietitian who specializes in sports and wellness nutrition. “Any shortcut will be helpful. ”
Unfortunately, this label does not leave room for foods that may not meet the standard, but come close. For example, Trader Joe’s Chicken Burrito Bowl has 22 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, and 3 types of whole grains. Among frozen food options, it seems like a nutritionally sound choice given the balance between nutrients and food groups. However, it also contains full-fat cheddar cheese, which contains 4.5 grams of saturated fat, which is 23 percent of your total daily recommended intake. This is just over 20 percent (4 grams) of the recommended daily intake needed to qualify as healthy. People who eat within this limit can easily make up for the extra 0.5 grams of saturated fat by eating low-fat cheese or yogurt at another meal. And even if all three of your meals for the day contained 23 percent of your daily recommended intake, that’s still less than your total daily intake. They can consume up to 31 percent of their daily intake of saturated fat from snacks and still meet the guidelines.
Consumer brands are looking for other ways to show consumers which options are healthier than others, Gallo said. Even if it doesn’t meet the healthy label, it’s not uncommon for packages to advertise how many grams of whole grains or added sugars a product contains. Labels on the front of the package often list things like fiber, protein, and saturated fat. “You can tell your patients to check the specific saturated fat, fiber, and protein numbers listed on the label,” Peritella says.
While Mozaffarian supports the new health label requirements, he recommends that the FDA take a different approach to encourage people to change their products to healthier recipes. “Imagine a front-of-pack label showing the actual intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds in the package,” he says. That would give companies an incentive to start ramping up those ingredients.
Another option is a tiered system, which the Food Is Medicine Institute is testing. “We conducted a randomized controlled trial of the Food Compass label, which is a more graded system from 1 to 100 for rating the healthiness of foods,” Mozaffarian said. Although the results have not yet been published, “We found that Food Compass was even more effective in helping most people make healthier shopping decisions,” he says.
The new FDA rule raises the most important questions. Will it pass discussions with the incoming Trump administration, which has made no secret of its opposition to certain regulations? Some food policy experts think it will be fine. “I don’t think the next administration is going to fight that. It’s voluntary labeling,” said Roberts, a partner at the international regulatory law firm Keller & Heckman who spent 15 years in the Office of Regulatory Policy in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. David Joy says. “The FDA is updating standards for ‘healthy’ claims on food labels to align with current dietary guidelines, but this is not a significant regulatory burden for the food industry,” he says.
But Emily Lyons, a food regulatory attorney and partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell, believes the Trump administration could make changes because the food industry has concerns about some of the rules. are. He also said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, may want to make changes of his own, such as banning certain food colorings. Pointed out. The FDA’s policies “could be subject to the Congressional Review Act, which means they could be repealed if Republicans control both the House and the Senate,” Lyons said.
Even if this rule is as written now, it could be at least two years before new labels appear on items in grocery stores. But if that happens, people could walk down the supermarket aisle and know that they can eat water, whole fruit, lean protein, and a wide variety of whole grains in a healthy way. Probably.
