“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its final ruling on requirements for the “healthy” nutrient claim, more than two years after initially proposing an update…
Trade groups and associations quickly responded to the new definition, with various groups calling out the exclusion of certain foods like cereals and yogurts.
The Sugar Association called out some of the products that will be excluded with the updated definition but supports some added sugar limits, Courtney Gaine, The Sugar Association president and CEO, shared in a statement with FoodNavigator-USA.
“The Sugar Association supports the Dietary Guidelines recommendation to limit added sugars to 10% of total calories, but the new ‘healthy’ definition goes well beyond that recommendation and arbitrarily excludes many foods containing added sugars that are key providers of essential nutrients, such as fruit yogurt,” Gaine elaborated.
The Sugar Association called out “incentivizing further use of industrial additives like low- and no-calorie sweeteners in food, which have proliferated over the last several decades, going well beyond their well-known and easily identifiable role in beverages,” Gaine elaborated.
Sugar remains one of the most popular sweeteners compared to no- or low-caloric sweeteners, according to a recent International Food Information Council (IFIC) report. In the report, IFIC surveyed 1,000 consumers to rate their favorite sweeteners out of 10 (1 being the least likely to consume and 10 the most) with sucrose receiving an average score of 6.3, compared to monk fruit, aspartame, allulose and erythritol at 4.3, 3.9, 3.5 and 3.4, respectively.
“At some point, the government needs to acknowledge that we don’t have a good grasp on how pervasive these low- and no-calorie sweeteners have become in our food supply, unbeknown to most Americans. It is past time we bring some transparency to these additives like we have for added sugars,” Gaine said.”
Read the full article here: https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2024/12/19/fda-updates-healthy-definition/
March 22, 2026
"The Feeding the Economy report affirms the vital role food and agriculture play in our nation’s economic resilience and food security. Commercial bakers have long been proud partners to American agriculture, sourcing 85 percent of their core ingredients from domestic farmers....Sponsoring organizations from the food and agriculture industries, who helped make the 2026 study possible, provided commentary on this year’s findings. The full list of sponsoring organizations includes: ...The Sugar Association"
March 10, 2026
"Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, a scientific body that supports the U.S. sugar industry, told the USDA Outlook Forum that the school meal standards taking effect next year might prohibit added sugars in kindergarten meals and could significantly restrict them in other grades. That change alone would cut sugar demand by over 130,000 short tons. The industry faces additional pressure from rising GLP-1 weight-loss drug usage, which jumped from 12% in May 2024 to 18% in November 2025, though Gaine cautioned it remains "premature to assess the impact."
March 3, 2026
"Gaine added, "There is no data to support all this." She said the focus on added sugar is often politically motivated, but food groups have not pushed back on the MAHA pressure. There is a lot of fear of retaliation, and for good reason they have not wanted to push back publicly," Gaine said. "I think it’s going to demand a coordinated, really coordinated, pushing back. Any effort up (until) now has been to go along to get along, and I don’t know if that’s going to work."
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