Food Fight: FDA is redefining ‘healthy’ and food industry is pushing back

March 5, 2023

…Under the proposal, manufacturers can label their products “healthy” only if they contain a meaningful amount of food from at least one of the main food groups such as fruit, vegetable or dairy, as recommended by federal dietary guidelines. They must also adhere to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.

It’s the added sugar limit that has been the sticking point for many food executives. The FDA’s previous rules put limits around saturated fat and sodium but did not include limits on added sugars…

The Consumer Brands Association, which represents 1,700 major food brands from General Mills to Pepsi, wrote a 54-page comment to the FDA in which it stated the proposed rule was overly restrictive and would result in a framework that would automatically disqualify a vast majority of packaged foods…The proposed rule, if finalized, they said, would violate the First Amendment rights of food companies and could harm both consumers and manufacturers.

The Sugar Association has an issue with the added sugar limit; Campbell Soup is more focused on that sodium.

Read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/03/05/fda-healthy-food-sugar/