Industry responds to how FDA redefines 'healthy' labeling 

The FDA has proposed changes to update the rules on healthy food labeling, which can affect fruits and vegetables sold in bulk, cut, otherwise value-added and in juice form.
The FDA has proposed changes to update the rules on healthy food labeling, which can affect fruits and vegetables sold in bulk, cut, otherwise value-added and in juice form.
(Photo: Courtesy of Potatoes USA)

Grocery shoppers rely on food packaging information to make informed decisions about their purchases and health, so when a box of granola bars says “healthy” and a bag of carrots doesn’t, the message can be misleading — even when it seems like common sense.

The word “healthy” may soon be redefined, and our industry has some thoughts about it.

After all, the rules on this marketing claim were last updated in 1994.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed that food products bearing “healthy” claims will need to contain certain amounts of food from recommended food groups, or food group equivalents (FGE). For example, a half-cup equivalent of vegetable equals one FGE of vegetable.

The FDA’s proposed new rule on the voluntary marketing claim of “healthy” on food packaging is based on modern nutrition science, federal dietary guidance — especially the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 — and the updated Nutrition Facts label.

Read: The FDA's proposed rule on the Federal Register

The International Fresh Produce Association included this kind of labeling policy among its eight recommendations at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. IFPA also sent comments to the FDA on its proposed new rule.

“Big picture: Beyond produce, the percentage of products on the market that meet the old and new healthy definition is low, so a voluntary healthy claim does not go far enough to promote transparency and empower consumers to help meet dietary guidelines,” said Mollie Van Lieu, IFPA’s vice president of nutrition and health.

Similarly, the Center for Science in the Public Interest generally supports the adoption of these food group requirements, but it also says the proposed requirements for fruits and vegetables are insufficient.

“The proposal could be improved in several ways, including by strengthening the whole grain, fruit and vegetable requirements and ensuring that terms like ‘wholesome,’ ‘nutritious’ and ‘heart healthy’ are considered implied ‘healthy’ claims,” the center wrote in its Feb. 16 comments to the FDA.

A core component of IFPA’s work has been increasing fruit and vegetable consumption through federal policy and programs, including effective and transparent labeling, according to the Feb. 16 comments.

IFPA pointed out in these comments several other opportunities the FDA has to address deceptive and misleading labeling, particularly around fruits and vegetables. 

Why this labeling matters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that only 1 in 10 Americans are meeting recommended consumption rates.

“Food and nutrition labeling touches every consumer regardless of socio-economic status. While we must focus on those who are most nutrition insecure, almost all Americans under-consume fruits and vegetables,” IFPA’s comments to the FDA said. “Every time a consumer seeks nutritious food and is sold a food or beverage that undermines their health, it is a missed opportunity to reduce diet-related disease.”

About 45% of adults have diabetes or prediabetes, according to a 2017 report from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Consumers pay attention to labels, IFPA said.

More than half of consumers look at the Nutrition Facts Panel or ingredient list “often” or “always” when making a purchasing decision, and about 40% say they consider other labeling statements about health or nutrition benefits, according to the 2018 Food and Health Survey from the International Food Information Council Foundation.

“Labeling transparency is a valuable tool for assisting consumers in making healthful choices and following dietary guidance” IFPA’s letter said.

Go further

IFPA supports the agency’s proposed decision to include all raw, whole fruits and vegetables as meeting the “healthy” definition without any additional requirements for food group equivalents or nutrients to limit.

  • But, as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) includes cut, sliced, diced or cubed produce in its definition of “whole” produce, IFPA encouraged the agency to ensure that individual servings of whole fresh produce that are cut, sliced, diced and cubed for convenience, and have no added nutrients to limit, are not excluded in this new rule.
  • The FDA needs to finalize the requirement-exclusion decision about raw fruits and vegetables. Because raw produce is often sold in bulk with no packaging, a requirement that this type of produce meet the half-cup equivalent requirement would be unrealistic, disincentivize retailers or marketers from using “healthy,” and runs counter to the intent of the rule to increase consumption of foods consistent with DGA healthy eating patterns.
  • As the agency considers concentrated purees, pastes, powders and dried products, IFPA encouraged FDA to consider how much of these products people actually eat so it’s consistent with the DGA recommendations. Even when these products don’t meet the “healthy” definition, they often imply more meaningful amounts through depictions of fruits and vegetables or including the names of the produce in product descriptions, which can be confusing and misleading. That marketing tactic needs to be considered.
  • The FDA’s proposed rule indicates that a half-cup equivalent of fruit or vegetable juice would qualify for “healthy,” when the DGA recommends no fruit or vegetable juice for children younger than 12 months and no more than 4 ounces of fruit juice, if absolutely necessary, for people more than 2 years old. There needs to be mechanism to communicate to the consumer at point of purchase that juices should be limited — especially considering the sizes of juice bottles. Also, proposed changes to the WIC food package recommend limited or no juice in the food package, which can be confusing when one set of dietary guidelines conflicts with a “healthy” claim on fruit and vegetable juice products.

“Given the DGA recommendations to consume mostly whole fruits and vegetables, the agency must be mindful of whether a healthy claim could drive consumers to select juices over whole or cut fruit and vegetables,” IFPA’s comments said.

Also, IFPA wrote, “the agency must consider that nearly half of Americans currently live with diabetes or prediabetes, and that juice is generally suggested to be limited for this population. FDA should consider the implications of allowing a healthy claim or logo to apply to fruit and vegetable juices.”

IFPA included considerations for food marketed toward caregivers of babies and children younger than 2. 

Related news: CDC: Small children aren't eating vegetables (Me: No kidding!)

The association also warned about depictions of fruits and vegetables and deceptive labeling.

  • Consider requiring foods making fruit and vegetable claims (through words or depictions) to disclose the quantity of fruits and vegetables per serving in household measures. For example, “contains 1/8 teaspoon of strawberries per 1-cup serving.” The declaration should be specific to the type of fruit or vegetable depicted or mentioned in claims, to avoid creating a lack of transparency that unfairly depicts that more desirable or expensive ingredients, such as spinach or strawberries, predominate in a food when they do not.
  • Foods that contain fruit or vegetables that are not in their whole or cut form (without added sugar or sodium) should not be counted toward the amount of fruit in the declaration (for example, powders, concentrated fruit juice or purees). A required disclosure should also indicate that the “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that at least half of your daily amount of fruit intake should be from whole fruits.”
  • If a food is lacking in fruits and vegetables and contains only fruit or vegetable flavoring, it should bear a disclosure: “Contains no real fruits/vegetables.”
 

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