Reading the rules - dc updates - food labeling regulations

Along with the Federal Trade Commission--the agency that monitors truth in advertising--the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced new regulations regarding the labeling of foods and dietary supplements. According to the new rules, the FDA will begin allowing "health claims" on conventional foods the same way it does for supplements.

The idea is that when emerging scientific evidence points to a specific food's health benefits, manufacturers can say so on their product labels, as long as the claim is OK'd by the FDA.

The agency characterizes this initiative as empowering "consumers to make smart, healthy choices about the foods that they buy and consume." And just in case this point proves elusive, they named their plan "Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition," referring to improved diet, not BN.

media spin

You've probably already seen this story in your local newspaper or on television. But based on how the FDA described it above, you may not have recognized it. That's because most consumer news stories portrayed the FDA's initiative as lessening or lowering standards rather than providing information that's useful or truthful.

Many in the press predicted that the FDA's actions would open the floodgates to a torrent of spurious claims. The crux of the problem was that, prior to the FDA's announcement, a "consensus" of scientific evidence was required before manufacturers could make health claims on their food labels. Now, even though the FDA will still approve claims, it will "only" demand that--in its own words--the "weight" of scientific evidence supports the claim.

If you don't see a huge erosion of consumer protection down the slippery slope of deregulation, don't be confused. You're ready for the rule that most of the news media believes to be true: If something's good for industry, it must necessarily be bad for consumers.

consumer confusion?

Whenever the government introduces policies or regulations that may be beneficial to industry--no matter how prudent, principled and well meaning those policies are--they are immediately viewed in some corners as a threat to your health and safety.

Consumer protection groups exist to keep you from harming yourself in the event government or industry can't or won't. Most media outlets are more than happy to pass on this message.

And that's exactly what happened in the case of the FDA's new food regulations.

As you can probably guess, the industry--groups representing food manufacturers--believes this new FDA initiative is a good thing. That's because we, the industry, generally believe consumers are not as easily led or duped as some--consumer groups and the media--would have you believe. In practice, my organization has worked to make sure that you have access to good information about dietary supplements and foods so you can make informed decisions at the point of purchase.

Not surprisingly, we support the use of health claims on foods as providing you another tool in evaluating and choosing the foods you eat. And we don't believe that food-label claims will lead you to make disastrous decisions about your diet.

For instance, one of the first health claims that consumers can expect to see on their food labels regards salmon, which contains omega-3 fatty acids and is believed to reduce the risk of heart disease. The key word here is "believed" as opposed to "proven."

The FDA may very well allow this claim because of the strong scientific evidence that indicates that it's true--even the conservative American Heart Association recently endorsed omega-3s after reviewing the evidence.

And allowing such a claim when the bulk of scientific evidence is in its favor--rather than waiting until it is proven beyond any doubt--will probably provide consumers with more benefits than harm.

David Seckman, CEO of the National Nutritional Foods Association, writes about political issues affecting consumers.

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