Cooking Up the New Food Label : Part 2

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 2)

Healthier Products Encouraged

In developing the regulations, FDA wrote rules that would not limit manufacturers' incentive to produce healthier products in the future, Scarbrough explains. For example, a manufacturer of cooking oils could not label its products with claims of reduced risk of heart disease because it is not a low-fat food. However, if the manufacturer produced a cooking oil that was lower in saturated fat than its other products, it could make a comparative claim for the nutrient content, calling attention to what the saturated fat level really was.

Soy sauce is another product that would not qualify for a health claim because it has a high sodium content. But under the regulations, a manufacturer could make a "light" soy sauce, making it clear on the label that "light" referred to a reduced sodium content, if that were the case, and if its sodium content were sufficiently reduced from its regular product.

When NLEA was written, says Scarbrough, Congress decided that such information would be useful to consumers — it would balance the picture so that consumers could make choices. Although it may create a cluttered label, the principle is to give complete disclosure about the food and to encourage nutrition information, versus not allowing some products to make any claims at all.

FSIS rule-makers wanted nutrition labeling to facilitate the development of lower-fat meat and poultry products. "Meat and poultry products are good foods," Glavin says. "The descriptors helped us capture the characteristics unique to meat and poultry on the nutrition label," she says.

In its advanced notice of proposed rule-making, FSIS asked for comments on descriptors for meats. The American Heart Association comment suggested definitions for the descriptors so that consumers could rely on the descriptive terms to help them select meat and poultry products with different levels of fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. FSIS proposed the AHA-suggested definitions for "lean" and "extra lean." FDA adopted those definitions for the products it regulates, including fish and game meat.

"What neither agency wanted to do was to tell consumers exactly what they should be eating," says Scarbrough. "Industry is very creative describing and promoting their products, and I'm sure manufacturers will come up with ways of doing that without cluttering the label and still stay within the law."

Many Resources Tapped

The effort to get NLEA ready for implementation touched almost everyone in FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, from scientists to secretaries. Field offices throughout the country were involved also. Charity Singletary, public affairs specialist for FDA's Baltimore district office, says that at a recent national convention of dietitians held in Washington, D.C., "almost every other person who visited our exhibit asked about NLEA." She says from early spring of 1992, all of her public affairs activities, such as exhibits at national meetings and talks to consumer groups and schools, were about NLEA.

In FSIS, staffers devoted thousands of hours, over more than two years, to the label reform effort. "It was hard work, but because we were working together with equally committed FDA staff, it was also satisfying work," Wade says.

In addition, FDA and FSIS relied on a great number of outside resources. Both used the expertise of scientists within their own agencies and from the National Institutes of Health and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reviewed a number of scientific studies, including some from the National Academy of Sciences.

"We listen very carefully to the NAS because it's made up of scientists that come together from all parts of the country," Scarbrough says. "They have prestige and carry a certain amount of 'scientific authority' in the public view. If an NAS committee agrees on something, that's about as close as you can get to the 'general scientific agreement' that NLEA requires. NAS has also worked on Recommended Dietary Allowances for many years and has a lot of experience in that area. And NAS has put together a committee on food labeling with a number of scientific disciplines."

Industry and Consumer Groups React

Scarbrough says FDA worked closely with industry. "In general, the food industry was quite supportive because it knows that nutrition information is important to consumers, and it sells products," Scarbrough says. "The advantage for industry is that everyone now plays by the same rules."

E. Toni Guarino, vice president and general counsel of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, called the number of regulations required by NLEA and the time frame for issuing them "extraordinary." She said the FDA staff responded with "a high level of dedication and professionalism."

"The FDA and food industry cooperative consumer research project to test nutrition label formats is a particularly good example of FDA's commitment to involve all interested groups in the process of developing well-reasoned food labeling rules that achieve FDA's goals," she says.

FSIS sought to be responsive to industry without conflicting with the public interest. In doing so, FSIS extended the time frame for implementation of its rules, giving industry time for compliance and minimizing costs to consumers. FSIS also made exemptions for firms that met its "small business" definition.

"Consumer groups are generally happy with the law," Scarbrough says. "They'd like us to go even further and be more restrictive with what we're allowing," he says.

Public Voice spokeswoman Patti Morris says her group is pleased that ingredient listings will now be required on standardized foods and that nutrient content claims will be defined.

"FDA, as usual, is trying to strike that balance between consumer interests and what's fair to industry," Scarbrough says. "In general," he adds, "I think both consumer and industry groups support our labeling effort, but each has its own viewpoint about how the effort could have been better or have been done a little differently."

How Final Are the Final Regulations?

Final regulations can be modified. "Industry, or anyone, can petition us to change a regulation," explains Scarbrough. "And NLEA gives us a time frame to react to those petitions."

"With new processed foods coming on the market all the time and changes in eating habits," he says, "I think we'll be readdressing serving sizes for a long time. The same applies with new health claims or terms a manufacturer would want to use on the label. Food labeling is a subject we'll continue to revisit for many years to come."

About the Author

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FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.