Organic Egg Producer Petitions FDA To Label Eggs as Healthy

An organic egg producer has filed a citizen petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to update the definition of “healthy” to be consistent with scientific evidence and the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for America (DGA). Specifically, Pete and Gerry’s Organics LLC asks FDA to amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to allow eggs, as single-ingredient foods, to bear the claim “healthy” and to amend FDA enforcement guidance to permit use of the term on eggs, which contain cholesterol in excess of the current limits.

The petition states that FDA’s current labeling guidelines are based on specific nutrient levels rather than overall nutritional quality of foods, while the DGA has shifted emphasis to overall dietary patterns. The 2015-2020 DGA does not suggest limiting cholesterol, based on American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology research that apparently found “no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol,” according to the petition.