Health
Access to healthy food and food secuĀrity in the United States are the goals of the White Houseās new national hunger, nutriĀtion and health stratĀegy.
President Joe Bidenās adminĀisĀtraĀtion said it would push for a series of legĀislaĀtive and execĀuĀtive actions through coopĀerĀaĀtion with national and local instiĀtuĀtions, the food indusĀtry, schools and other stakeĀholdĀers.
These include improvĀing food access and qualĀity, proĀmotĀing physĀiĀcal activĀity and researchĀing food secuĀrity and nutriĀtion issues. A new approach to food labelĀing is also a cruĀcial part of the iniĀtiaĀtive.
See Also:Health NewsāWe are mobiĀlizĀing the will to meet a bold goal: to end hunger in America and increase healthy eatĀing and physĀiĀcal activĀity by 2030, so fewer Americans expeĀriĀence diet-related disĀeases,ā Biden said durĀing a speech introĀducĀing the new plan.
One of the pilĀlars of the new stratĀegy is increasĀing conĀsumer awareĀness about the food they buy to proĀmote healthy choices. To this end, curĀrent food labelĀing will be updated with the introĀducĀtion of a front-of-pack labelĀing (FOPL) sysĀtem.
According to the new plan, the FOPL would fosĀter a healthĀier approach to food and prompt the indusĀtry to improve the health of its food.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will develop the labelĀing sysĀtem, instructĀing the indusĀtry on using the Dietary Guidelines Statements on food labels.
To this end, the FDA proĀposed a rule update for the āāhealthyā claim on food prodĀucts which was introĀduced in 1994 and is now conĀsidĀered outĀdated.
The curĀrent regĀuĀlaĀtion specĀiĀfies limĀits on conĀtents such as fat, sodium and choĀlesĀterol and sets minĀiĀmum amounts of nutriĀents such as vitĀaĀmins A and C, calĀcium, iron, proĀtein and dietary fiber. Approximately 5 perĀcent of all packĀaged food curĀrently is labeled āāhealthy.ā
The FDA said it would allow the use of the health claim for foods that help conĀsumers folĀlow a healthy dietary patĀtern accordĀing to curĀrent nutriĀtion sciĀence. The agency cited olive oil as an examĀple of a food that was preĀviĀously excluded but now may receive the āāhealthyā claim.
See Also:U.S. Provides $1 Billion to Farmers to Fight Climate ChangeThe FDA wrote that the use of olive oil as a replaceĀment for more comĀmon satĀuĀrated fats āāis supĀported by curĀrent nutriĀtion sciĀence and emphaĀsized by fedĀeral dietary guidĀanceā¦ as part of a healthy dietary patĀtern.ā
Under the curĀrent regime, olive oil canĀnot bear the āāhealthyā claim because it does not conĀtain 10 perĀcent of the daily value of required nutriĀents.
āThus, the existĀing āāhealthyā claim has become inconĀsisĀtent with the longĀstandĀing purĀpose of this type of implied claim to indiĀcate that the nutriĀent levĀels in a food may help conĀsumers mainĀtain healthy dietary pracĀtices,ā the FDA said.
The core of the new proĀposed frameĀwork uses a food group-based approach which, the FDA said, is āābased on the underĀstandĀing that each food group conĀtributes an array of imporĀtant nutriĀents to the diet.ā
Therefore, the FDA added, the new healthy criĀteĀria would āāemphaĀsize healthy dietary patĀterns by requirĀing food prodĀuctsā to be labeled āāhealthyā when they āāconĀtain a cerĀtain amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subĀgroups recĀomĀmended by the Dietary Guidelines, 2020 to 2025.ā
Once enacted, the new regĀuĀlaĀtion would limit added sugĀars, satĀuĀrated fats and sodium. It would also include āācerĀtain recordĀkeepĀing requireĀments for foods bearĀing the claim where comĀpliĀance canĀnot be verĀiĀfied through inforĀmaĀtion on the prodĀuct label.ā
Comments on the new FDA proĀposed regĀuĀlaĀtion update will be accepted until December 28, 2022.
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