The U.S. Food and Drug Administration`s new labeling proposals cover enough material to fill 25 volumes.
They cover nutrient lists, serving sizes, descriptive terms, fat and cholesterol designations, health claims, ingredient listing requirements andn other ways the agency wants to improve what appears on food packaging.
The FDA hopes the proposals will furnish clear information about what we are eating. But some critics, grocery manufacturers in particular, say some of the proposals could confuse shoppers even further.
Because the reforms are extensive, we will outline some of them now and others in the weeks to come in the Food Guide.
Many of the FDA`s suggested labeling regulations already have been adopted voluntarily by food companies, especially those manufacturers that have been claiming low-fat or low-cholesterol content for their products. About 60 percent of packaged foods now display the amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat, cholesterol and some vitamins. But for even these products there probably will need to be label updating. There is a 90-day comment period until Feb. 8 for public hearings and comments. The FDA will then incorporate any changes by Nov. 8, 1992, after which they become law and manufacturers have until May 8, 1993 to phase them in.
Serving sizes
The new regulations would require each food package to list a standard serving size, total calories, total calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, total carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, protein, sodium, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. Listing thiamine, riboflavin and niacin would be optional, as the U.S. population generally does not suffer diseases related to deficiencies in those common B vitamins.
For example a 15 1/2-ounce can of pinto beans currently lists a 1/2-cup serving, as containing 90 calories, 6 grams of protein, 20 grams of carbohydrate, 1 gram of fat, 280 milligrams of sodium, 240 milligrams of potassium and 5 grams of dietary fiber plus vitamins.
Under the new rules the label would have to add the amount of calories from fat (9), cholesterol (none), complex carbohydrates and sugars (not presently listed).
The serving size of 1/2 cup probably would be standard for the beans, but other commodities might have to change serving size to conform with new standards. The FDA is in the process of publishing a total of 131 standard serving sizes to apply to approximately 17,000 products. This is one label directive that manufacturers say will be oppressive.
”Consumers eat muffins, rolls, hamburger buns and slices of cheese, not ounces,” said C. Manly Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Each of these products may weigh slightly more or less than the reference standard. If this proposal becomes standard, consumers will be confused.”
Such standardization of serving size will help shoppers compare products, the FDA says.
For instance, on a can of Pritikin brand vegetable soup, the label specifies the calories, fat, carbohydrates and protein, but bases the information on a serving size of 7 3/8 ounces, which conveniently is one half of the total 14 3/4 ounces in the can. But that`s different from a can of Campbell`s soup, which contains 10 3/4 ounces and a suggested serving size of 4 ounces (8 ounces when water is added). According to the Campbell`s serving- size designation, one can of soup will serve 2 3/4 people, which illustrates why the FDA wants to standardize serving size.
Interestingly, the Campbell`s soup label does have a breakdown of simple sugars, complex carbohydrates and saturated fat, things the FDA wants on all labels.
Label dictionary
Perhaps the most far-reaching proposals in the FDA`s package are in the
”dictionary” of descriptive terms relating to the nutrient contents of packaged foods. There are 9 main terms, each having a precise definition so they always will mean the same thing when applied to packaged food: free, low, high, source of, reduced, light (lite), less, more and fresh. Here`s how the FDA defines these words in various applications:
– Free: An amount that is ”nutritionally trivial” and unlikely to have a physiological consequence.
– Calorie free: Less than 5 calories per serving.
– Sugar free: Less than 0.5 grams per serving.
– Sodium free and salt free: Less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving.
– Low: Would allow frequent consumption of a food ”low in a nutrient without exceeding the dietary guidelines.” Per serving and per 100 grams
(about 3 1/2 ounces) of food, these items would be defined as:
– Low sodium: Less than 140 milligrams per serving and per 100 grams of food.
– Very low sodium: Less than 35 milligrams per serving and per 100 grams of food.
– Low calorie: Less than 40 calories per serving and per 100 grams of food. (One important point here is that if a serving size is less than 100 grams, the amount of the nutrient or calories still would be based on 100 grams.)
A food that naturally is ”free of” or ”low” in a nutrient may make such a claim, but the claim must indicate that the condition exists for all similar foods-for example ”Fresh spinach, a low-sodium food.”
– High and source of: These terms are intended to emphasize the beneficial presence of certain nutrients. ”High” means 20 percent or more of the recommended daily intake of a nutrient. ”Source of” is 10 to 19 percent of that value.
– Reduced, light, less and more: To use these terms a label must be show information about the food to which the product is being compared and must give the amount of the nutrient that is the subject of the claim, among other things.
”Reduced” may be used for sodium only if the food contains no more than half the sodium of the comparison food. Reduced may be used for calories if the food has been reduced by one third.
”Less” may be used to describe nutrients if the reduction is at least 25 percent.
”Light” may be used on foods that contain one-third fewer calories than a comparable product. If the word is used for another purpose, it must specify look, taste or color.
”More” could be used to specify more of a desirable nutrient-such as more fiber or more potassium-than a comparable food, but it must contain at least 10 percent more.
– Fat free: Less than 0.5 grams per serving.
– Low fat: 3 grams or fewer of fat per serving and per 100 grams of the food.
– Percent fat free: May only be used in describing foods that meet the FDA low-fat definition.
– Reduced fat: No more than half the fat of the food to which it is compared-for example: ”Reduced fat, 50 percent less fat than our regular brownie.” The reduction also must exceed 3 grams of fat. (This is to avoid trivial claims.)
– Low in saturated fat: May be used to describe a food that contains 1 gram or less of saturated fat per serving, and not more than 15 percent of calories from saturated fat.
– Reduced saturated fat: No more than 50 percent of the saturated fat than the food to which it is compared. Food with a reduction of 25 percent or greater may have a comparative claim using the term ”less.” The reduction of saturated fat must exceed one gram and indicate the percent and amount of saturated fat in the food to which it is compared.
– Cholesterol free: Less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving.
– Low cholesterol: 20 milligrams or fewer per serving and per 100 grams of food, and 2 grams or fewer of saturated fat per serving. (With these last two proposals the FDA is trying to prevent the implication that a high-fat product may be healthful just because it is low or lacking in cholesterol.)
– Reduced cholesterol: 50 percent or less cholesterol per serving than the food to which it is being compared. Foods with cholesterol reductions of 25 percent or more may use the term ”less” but for both, the cholesterol reduction must exceed 20 milligrams per serving.
All claims relating to cholesterol content are prohibited when a food contains more than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving. Foods with 11.5 grams of total fat per serving or per 100 grams must disclose those levels immediately after any cholesterol claims. (This proposal applies particularly to vegetable oils, which have no cholesterol but have high fat content.)
– Fresh: May be linked to only raw food, food that has not been frozen, processed or preserved.
– Freshly: With a verb such as ”prepared,” ”baked,” or ”roasted”
may be used if the food is recently made and has not been frozen or heat processed or preserved.
Also, adding waxes or coatings, using approved pesticides after harvest or applying a mild chlorine wash or mild acid to raw produce would not prohibit the use of the term ”fresh.”
How it will work
Here`s how the rules would apply to a product such as Keebler`s Sun Toasted Wheats, which states on the package front that it is ”Low Salt, Cholesterol Free, Low in Saturated Fat.”
To conform to the FDA proposals, the crackers first would have to have fewer than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving and per 100 grams. Product information on the box specifies a serving as 1/2 ounce or 10 crackers, for which the sodium content is 85 milligrams. However, since 1/2 ounce is only about 14 grams, the sodium content per 100 grams would be 600 milligrams, way out of the ball park for a low-sodium designation under the proposed regulations.
Because the product has no cholesterol, it would qualify for the
”cholesterol free” descriptor. And since it has less than 1 gram of saturated fat per 1/2-ounce serving (less than 12 percent of calories) it also qualifies for the ”low in saturated fat” label.
How about a package of Alpine Lace Sliced Low Moisture, Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese? The package advertises ”50% less sodium,” ”low cholesterol, 15 mg per oz, 3g saturated fat per oz,” ”low sodium, 75 mg per oz.”
To start with, under the FDA proposals the 50 percent less sodium description must list the food to which it is being compared and the amount of sodium in that food. One assumes the comparable food is whole-milk mozzarella cheese, but there is no such information on the package, so the ”50 percent less” description probably would not be allowed under new label proposals.
The term ”low cholesterol” also would not qualify under the new rules. The package says the cheese has 55 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams (15 mg per 1 ounce serving) and 3 grams of saturated fat per serving, both of which are in excess of the FDA`s new definitions. Furthermore, since the total fat of the cheese is 5 grams per serving or 17.6 grams per 100 grams, no cholesterol claims would be allowed.
Finally, the low sodium designation would be disallowed; the package lists 75 milligrams per serving or 275 per 100 grams, almost twice the FDA limits.
