US FDA to introduce nutrient content symbols on food products

Any potential symbol would represent the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ and could be used voluntarily by companies on food product labels

USFDA has recently issued a notice to brief about conducting research on the use of ‘healthy’ symbols on food products. Conrad Choiniere, PhD, director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition quoted, “The FDA understands that consumers want healthy choices when it comes to food and nutrition. We are issuing a procedural notice on preliminary consumer research we are planning on the use of symbols on food product labels. The symbol could later be used to convey the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’.”

He added, “As part of the Paperwork Reduction Act, federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register on each proposed information collection and to give the public the opportunity to comment. Specifically, we are seeking input on ways to enhance the quality, usefulness and clarity of the information to be collected.”

FDA is conducting this research in conjunction with the development of a proposed rule the FDA intends to later publish to update the definition of the nutrient content claim ‘healthy.’ Any potential symbol would represent the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ and could be used voluntarily by companies on food product labels that meet the ‘healthy’ definition.

Conrad  further said that the update to the definition and creation of a symbol for the ‘healthy’ nutrient content claim are part of the FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy (NIS) and can help address health inequities associated with some nutrition-related chronic diseases. One of the goals of the NIS is to modernize claims.