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After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

wsj.com

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Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#21

Post by grecy »

wgjordan wrote: post #7

From the FDA page [1]: > To meet the updated criteria for the claim, a food product needs to: > 1. contain a certain amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (such as fruit, vegetables, grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy and protein foods) recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and > 2. meet specific limits for added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. [1] https://www.fda.gov/food/…

> recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Don’t we now know with 100% certainty the sugar lobby in America seriously manipulated the dietary guidelines?

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#22

Post by potato3732842 »

HappySweeney wrote: post #8
blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think the healthy aspect affects eligibility food stamps. As I recall soda makes up 10% or more of all food stamp spending and the manufacturing have repeatedly successfully lobbied to keep sodas on there.

That is because soda is used as a medium to convert the balance to cash.

Usually at $.50 on the dollar (same as the going rate for letting someone else use your EBT/SNAP but way more convenient).

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#23

Post by boh »

kbelder wrote: post #20
boh wrote: post #13

Unfortunately the FDA has limited resource to actually police most of their existing guidelines and will have just as much trouble policing this one. Buy and cook raw ingredients as often as you can because the only way packaged foods make a profit is either to lower costs or increase prices, and neither option is to your benefit.

You forgot 'sell more'.

Food is pretty low margin--selling more is often less lucrative than costing less, since selling more often costs more in marketing costs, hampering profitability.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#24

Post by bsuvc »

grecy wrote: post #21
wgjordan wrote: post #7

From the FDA page [1]: > To meet the updated criteria for the claim, a food product needs to: > 1. contain a certain amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (such as fruit, vegetables, grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy and protein foods) recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and > 2. meet specific limits for added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. [1] https://www.fda.gov/food/…

> recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Don’t we now know with 100% certainty the sugar lobby in America seriously manipulated the dietary guidelines?

Do you mean corn?

Most American food has High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of Sugar.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#25

Post by blackeyeblitzar »

BadHumans wrote: post #18
blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of that is evidence of the ineffectiveness of government bureaucracies. You’re describing the way things work today. I’m saying the way it works is broken and needs to change. Allowing claims that salmon or water is healthy shouldn’t take long.

Salmon can be accumulators of plastics and heavy metals. It is not as simple was labeling things as healthy or not healthy.

Salmon is healthy and it is that simple. You’re bringing up unproductive questions that could go on forever about any food. If that’s the goal, we don’t need the bureaucracy. It’s the same outcome as shutting down this part of the agency, since they aren’t going to declare anything until decades after the world already moved on from their broken guidance and figured out that salmon or whatever else is healthy. No one serious questions that salmon is healthy, obviously. So let’s at least save the money.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#26

Post by toast0 »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #16
icegreentea2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this should have moved faster, but there's no way this is a single days work. Especially since a large part of the required work is meta work to show that they worked "properly". There are executive orders (and maybe laws? can't remember) that require all rule making to be subject to thorough cost benefit analysis. One of the required actions between a proposed and final rule is to review, reply to, and perha…

All of that is evidence of the ineffectiveness of government bureaucracies. You’re describing the way things work today. I’m saying the way it works is broken and needs to change. Allowing claims that salmon or water is healthy shouldn’t take long.

> Allowing claims that salmon or water is healthy shouldn’t take long.

Seems suss. The root word of Salmonella is Salmon; clearly it may not be healthy.

Water is just a rebranding of dihydrogen monixide, and we all know how bad that stuff is. It's made from rocket fuel, and you're trying to push it off as healthy?

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#27

Post by brookst »

icegreentea2 wrote: post #17
robomartin wrote: post #15

I could be wrong on this, yet my impression is that the bureaucrats, given RFK's intentions, are in fear for their jobs and are looking to mitigate exposure by, well, actually starting to do their jobs. The damage cause to society by a vast array of foods is likely the top contributor to not only disease-caused mortality but the massive cost of providing healthcare. The appointment of someone like RFK, with a mission…

It's possible that the RFK thing is driving some urgency, but the timeline is broadly in line with their stated goals from their 2016 to 2025 strategic plan. They started this whole process with public consultation in 2017, and released the proposed plan back in 2022.

Agreed. If this was some “pandering to the new boss” thing they would have fast tracked approvals for eating roadkill.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#28

Post by tayo42 »

Isnt farmed salmon pretty iffy on healthy? I read something that basically made me stop eating farmed salmon.

There seems to be a handful of farms near maybe Norway that the high end grocery stores carry that claim to be different but couldn't verify.

They use like food coloring to make up for their unnatural farm diet.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#29

Post by Dylan16807 »

bsuvc wrote: post #24
grecy wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Don’t we now know with 100% certainty the sugar lobby in America seriously manipulated the dietary guidelines?

Do you mean corn? Most American food has High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of Sugar.

It's still sugar, and the reason it's bad is because it's sugar rather than the exact composition.

Re: After 30 years, FDA overhauls guideline for the claim "healthy" on food packages

#30

Post by llamaimperative »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #29
bsuvc wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean corn? Most American food has High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of Sugar.

It's still sugar, and the reason it's bad is because it's sugar rather than the exact composition.

I think they're saying it is the corn lobby, not the sugar lobby, that distorted our diet guidelines so much.

Corn = huge "real American" industry

Sugar = not

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