FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, is working on the design of a healthy logo that operators in the U.S. could voluntarily affix to the front of labels of more nutritionally balanced foods.
1) Background. Healthy food vs. junk food
The Big Food lobby ‘s leitmotif-that there are no ‘healthy foods’ and ‘unhealthy foods’ and that nutritional balance should be exclusively assessed in the overall context of the diet-has been buried by scientific research. Instead, which identified precise correlations between the consumption of ultra-processed foods with imbalanced nutritional profiles, serious diseases and premature mortality.
Junk food, or junk-food or HFSS(High in Fats, Sugar and Salt), is the primary cause of the prevalence of NCDs(Non-Communicable Diseases) globally. Health authorities in various countries, in the Americas as well as in Europe and Asia, are therefore committed to promoting the consumption of healthier foods. Also through Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling (FOPNL) systems such as warning labels in Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico, or the NutriScore in the EU. Aiming to help consumers identify at a glance which foods to favor.
2) Healthy, conditions of use on labels in the U.S.
The use of the term healthy on the label of foods sold in the U.S. is still subject to the conditions established in 1994 by FDA. In 2016, the Authority launched an updating process with the twofold aim of:
– ‘provide consumers with information and tools that enable them to easily and quickly make food choices consistent with public health recommendations‘; and
– ‘encourage the development of healthier foods by industry‘. With attention regarding details ‘about the type of fat in the diet rather than the total amount of fat consumed and the amount of added sugar in the diet‘ (1,2,3).
3) Healthy logo, the work of the FDA.
A healthy logo is being tested, by FDA. With the goal of establishing an identical symbol with an unambiguous meaning. Operators will be able to place the healthy logo on the labels of food products that meet the updated definition of healthy food.
Therefore, the symbol ‘healthy‘ expresses an interpretive summary nutrition information system in the context of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL). Following an approach similar to that historically adopted in the Netherlands, then also in Poland and the Czech Republic with the Choices logo. (4)
4) FDA, ongoing trials.
Preliminary consumer research will be used by FDA to test the effectiveness of symbols that could be chosen as a healthy federal logo, with voluntary application. With the goal of ‘improving dietary patterns in the United States to help reduce the burden of diet-related chronic diseases and promote health equity.’
Two trials have been announced by FDA:
– an online survey of 2,000 adults who self-identify as major food buyers. To test ‘the clarity, relevance and attractiveness of a set of symbols,’ (5)
– A 15-minute web-based questionnaire to 5,000 adults. To observe their reactions to the proposed healthy logo applied to various mock products (a breakfast cereal, a frozen meal, and canned soup). (6)
5) Interim Conclusions
The Food and Drug Administration has remarked on the goal of providing consumers-who lack in-depth knowledge of nutrition-with a simple tool to make purchasing choices consistent with the primary need to improve public health conditions through nutrition.
After all, it is evident that industries are interested in being able to add the healthy logo on their product labels, whose nutritional profiles will therefore have to be improved through product reformulation. Win Win.
The only ones who do not understand the value of this path are Italian politicians who still prioritize the interests of Big Food over the health of the population. We therefore renew our invitation to our readers to join the petition against Ferrero & Co. lobbying to affirm the NutriScore in Italy and the EU. (6)
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) FDA (2016). Guidance for Industry: Use of the Term “Healthy” in the Labeling of Human Food Products. https://bit.ly/3wF0Asw
(2) FDA. Use of the Term Healthy on Food Labeling. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/use-term-healthy-food-labeling
(3) In the EU, however, the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, reg. EU 1924/06. Regarding nutrition claims, see. Dario Dongo. ABC nutritional claims. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 5/26/18, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/abc-indicazioni-nutrizionali
(4) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. How to solve the nutritional conundrum? News on the label front, review and outlook. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12/29/20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/come-risolvere-lenigma-nutrizionale-notizie-sul-fronte-etichetta-rassegna-e-prospettive/
(5) FDA. Information Collection Activities. Quantitative Research on a Voluntary Symbol Depicting the Nutrient Content Claim “Healthy” on Packaged Foods. Federal Register. 7.5.21 https://bit.ly/3LH2jCS, 28.3.22, https://bit.ly/3GaSn3l
(6) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. NutriScore, consumer health prevails over agribusiness lobby. Petition and insights. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.5.22, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/nutriscore-la-salute-dei-consumatori-prevalga-sulle-lobby-agroindustriali-petizione-e-approfondimenti
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
