White Bread Out, Salmon In: FDA Releases ‘Healthy’ Food Claim Rule

Salmon, low-fat yogurt, trail mix, olive oil, and eggs are among the foods that can now be called “healthy” under a final rule issued by the FDA on Thursday.

Meanwhile, fortified white bread and highly sweetened yogurt and cereal, which previously qualified as “healthy,” failed to meet updated criteria.

This final rule represents the first update to the nutrient content claim in 30 years.

“It’s critical for the future of our country that food be a vehicle for wellness. Improving access to nutrition information is an important public health effort the FDA can undertake to help people build healthy eating patterns,” said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, in a press release. “It is vital that we focus on the key drivers to combat chronic disease, like healthy eating. Now, people will be able to look for the ‘healthy’ claim to help them find foundational, nutritious foods for themselves and their families.”

During a call with reporters on Thursday, Jim Jones, deputy commissioner of the FDA’s Human Foods Program, stressed that diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are leading causes of disability and death in the U.S. They are also one reason the nation has one of the lowest life expectancies among large, high-income countries.

“We also know that food labeling can be a powerful tool for change,” Jones said.

To meet the new “healthy” criteria, food products must contain a certain amount of a food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups outlined by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including fruits, vegetables, protein foods, dairy, and grains. The food product must also meet certain limits on added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium.

Criteria will differ for individual food products, mixed products (those containing different amounts of more than a single food group), main dishes, and meals, and are based on a “Reference Amount Customarily Consumed,” which helps determine serving sizes.

“As an example, to include the ‘healthy’ claim on the package, a cereal needs to contain a certain amount of whole grains and adhere to limits for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. Nuts and seeds, higher fat fish, such as salmon, certain oils, and water are examples of foods that did not qualify for the ‘healthy’ claim before but are foundational to a healthy eating pattern and recommended by the dietary guidelines,” the FDA said in a constituent update.

“Many foods that fit into a range of budgets such as some peanut butters and canned fruits and vegetables also qualify,” the agency added.

The FDA said that it is continuing to work on developing a “healthy” symbol that manufacturers can use to let consumers know that their food meets the agency’s criteria, though it did not provide a time frame for issuing the marker. The agency will also continue to work on a transition to front-of-package nutrition labeling.

A lot of the core tenants of the rules on reducing added sugars, fats, and sodium have been a core part of the dietary guidelines since they were developed in the 1980s, explained Claudine Kavanaugh, PhD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling, during the press call.

However, there have been some “tweaks,” she said. For example, in the 1990s, the consensus was that you had to reduce all fats and that’s shifted to concentrating on saturated fats.

Kavanaugh also pointed out that within the protein group, fishes and certain meats naturally have saturated fats, and the limits for those fats are not the same across all food groups.

“So, there are some flexibilities a little bit, depending on the food group. It’s not a one size fits all,” she said.

Asked whether the agency was influenced by the incoming administration’s Make America Healthy Again platform, Jones said the FDA is aware of statements made by President-elect Trump’s nominees in the news, and they seem “very much aligned with the nutritional priorities” that the agency has been working on.

Manufacturers wishing to leverage the “healthy” claim will have 3 years to do so, but can use the criteria sooner, the FDA said.

If the agency finds that manufacturers are using the claim in a way that doesn’t meet the updated criteria, FDA will “take appropriate enforcement action,” Jones said.

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