Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler has authored a perspective article in the July 17, 2014, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, arguing that the agency’s proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts panel “don’t go far enough.” While praising the first amendments to the panel since its launch in 1997, the article claims that the proposed changes not only stop short of specifying a Daily Value for added sugar but fail to consider a product’s overall nutritional value. Additional details about FDA’s proposed labeling revisions appear in Issue 515 of this Update. “There is nothing in the new framework that actively encourages consumers to purchase food rich in the fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that are rightfully considered ‘real food,’” explains Kessler. “Instead, the focus is on specific nutrients—an emphasis that gives food companies an incentive to fortify their products so they can make claims such…
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a June 26, 2014, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss two proposed rules aimed at updating nutrition information and serving size requirements on Nutrition and Supplement Fact labels. Introduced 20 years ago, the Nutrition and Supplements Facts labels “help consumers make informed food choices and maintain healthy dietary practices.” Among others, the agency has proposed the following changes: (i) to require information about “added sugars”; (ii) to update daily values for nutrients such as sodium, dietary fiber and Vitamin D; (iii) to require manufacturers to declare potassium and Vitamin D amounts on the label, because they are new “nutrients of public health significance”; (iv) to change the serving size requirements to reflect how much people “actually” eat; (v) to require that packaged foods, including drinks, that are typically eaten in one sitting be labeled as a single serving and that calorie…
Harvard researchers have found that staple crops grown in environments with levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) similar to the levels expected in 2050 had less zinc, iron and protein than crops grown at current CO2 levels. Samuel S. Myers et al., “Increasing CO2 threatens human nutrition,” Nature, May 2014. The researchers conducted field trials of 41 strains of wheat, rice, maize, and soybeans grown in seven locations on three continents, elevating the CO2 levels from the current average of about 380-390 parts per million (ppm) to the expected levels in 2050 of 545-585 ppm. The wheat, rice and maize grown at the higher CO2 levels each had about 5 to 10 percent less zinc, iron and protein, while soybeans lost similar amounts of zinc and iron but maintained current levels of protein. The precise biological reason for the declines remains unclear, but researchers reportedly said that the nutrient reduction could…
Researchers have reportedly found that nutrient levels in a pregnant woman’s diet before conception can permanently affect how the child’s genes function. Paula Dominguez-Salas et al., “Maternal nutrition at conception modulates DNA methylation of human metastable epialleles,” Nature Communications, April 2014. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) researchers selected 167 pregnant women from a group of 2,000 in the Gambia based on when their fetuses were conceived—some at the peak of rainy season, when the Gambian diet includes fewer calories but more nutrient-rich vegetables, and some at the peak of dry season, when the diet includes more calories but fewer vitamins. The study evidently found that the infants born from the rainy season conceptions had significantly higher rates of the chemical compounds that activate genes than the infants born from the dry season conceptions. These compounds—methyl groups—can determine whether a gene is activated or silenced in the child…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a final rule prohibiting statements on food product labels, including dietary supplements, that claim products are “high in,” “rich in,” or an “excellent source of” docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) as well as similar claims for alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The rule finalizes a proposed rule the agency published in 2007 without any substantive changes. Under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), nutrient-content claims such as “high in” are allowed only for nutrients for which a reference level for the claim has been set, or, in some situations, if the requirements of the Act have been met, such nutrient levels can be based on authoritative statements published by certain types of scientific bodies, such as the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM). FDA apparently received notifications in 2004 and 2005 asserting that IOM had…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts label that would emphasize the number of calories and servings per container, among other things. As the agency explained in a February 27, 2014, press release, the new panels would not only display calories per serving in larger, bolder type, but would update serving sizes to reflect “the reality of what people actually eat, according to recent food consumption data.” In addition to breaking out the amount of added sugar as a separate item, the labels would make “the number of servings per package . . . more prominent,” with “amount per serving” tied to the actual serving size, e.g., “Amount per cup.” FDA has also recommended updating the daily values for various nutrients, listing potassium and vitamin D amounts on the label, and removing “calories from fat” completely. “Obesity, heart disease and other chronic diseases…
Public health watchdog the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has announced a February 26, 2014, meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways of improving the next generation of nutrition facts labels. NPR News correspondent Allison Aubrey is slated to moderate the panel with participants CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson; Wegmans Food Market Corporate Nutrition Manager Jane Andrews; The NPD Group’s Food & Beverage Industry Analyst Darren Seifer; Greenfield-Belser Principal Burkey Belser; and Share our Strength Director of National Partnerships Chef Gregory Silverman. See CSPI News Release, February 18, 2014. Issue 514
A federal court in California has denied the plaintiff’s request to certify a class of those who purchased ZonePerfect Nutrition bars relying on allegedly deceptive labels representing the products as “All Natural.” Sethavanish v. ZonePerfect Nutrition Co., No. 12-2907 (N.D. Cal., order entered February 13, 2014). The court found that the plaintiff set forth sufficient evidence to establish that she had standing for the purpose of class certification, despite paying more for other nutrition bars and sometimes purchasing non-natural products. Because the defendant “overwhelmingly sells to retailers, not directly to consumers, and . . . there are no records identifying any but a small fraction of consumers who have purchased ZonePerfect bars in the last several years,” the court, however, agreed with the defendant that neither the class nor the quantity of nutrition bars each member purchased were ascertainable other than by affidavit. As to ascertainability, the court noted a…
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have introduced legislation (H.R. 3147) seeking to “modernize” food labeling by updating the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list requirements, addressing front-of package (FOP) labeling, and eliminating misleading health claims. Titled the Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2013, the bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “to issue comprehensive guidance for industry clarifying the scientific support needed to prevent false or misleading information for structure/function claims and giving the Secretary the legal authority to compel companies to turn over their substantiation documents.” It would also direct HHS to (i) establish “a single, standard [FOP] labeling system in a timely manner for all food products required to bear nutrition labeling,” (ii) update the definition of the term “healthy” according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, (iii) standardize the term “natural,” (iv) require products…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued an interim final rule amending the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program regulations “to establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools, other than food sold under the lunch and breakfast programs.” Acting under Section 208 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the agency considered scientific recommendations and voluntary standards for beverages and snack foods, as well as more than 250,000 public comments, in developing the “Smart Snacks in School” standards, which must also adhere to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Effective July 1, 2014, the final rule requires all competitive foods sold in schools to meet the following guidelines: (i) “be a grain product that contains 50 percent or more whole grains by weight or have as the first ingredient a whole grain”; or (ii) “have as the first ingredient one of the non-grain…
