TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/110590/1105570.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.4 KB | 120 lines

                                                                                FOOD, Page 79

Less Baloney on the Shelves


Congress passes a sweeping truth-in-labeling grocery bill


    The American grocery store, claims Health and Human Services
Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan, has become a "Tower of Babel."
Consumers need to be linguists, scientists and mind readers to
understand the overblown health claims on labels that blare at
them from supermarket shelves. And even those skills may not
be enough. "Light" may mean low calorie to most
health-conscious consumers, but on a bottle of Bertolli Extra
Light olive oil, the term refers to its color. Hostess Light
cupcakes are said to be "low fat, no cholesterol," but that
does not mean they are low-cal.

    To consumers whose goal is merely to eat well at minimum
risk, it can all be very heavy going. So there was applause
from many quarters last week as Congress passed a sweeping
truth-in-labeling bill, the first comprehensive revision of
national nutritional labeling laws in 17 years. The Nutrition
Labeling and Education Act, which awaits President Bush's
signature to become law, will make food manufacturers and
processors provide more nutritional information on virtually
all foods, and bar them from making scientifically
unsubstantiated health claims.

    Among other things, the bill should stop a plethora of
misleading disease-prevention claims on foods ranging from
oat-bran doughnuts and cereals to cholesterol-free peanut
butter and "lite" desserts. "For too long consumers who want
a healthier diet have been besieged by inaccurate nutrition
claims," said Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, the bill's chief
sponsor in the Senate. Now, he added, "a bold health claim on
the front of the package won't be contradicted by the fine
print on the back."

    The bill directs the Food and Drug Administration to draft
standard definitions of such terms as light, low fat, reduced
calories and high fiber, which are routinely bandied about on
everything from cereal boxes to mayonnaise jars and
tortilla-chips packages. The FDA will allow health claims only
in areas where scientifically valid links between diet and
health have been established. About 60% of the roughly 20,000
food labels in supermarkets display information about the
calories, vitamins and minerals contained in various foods.
When the FDA completes its work, labels will also have to
disclose the number of calories derived from fat and the amount
of dietary fiber, saturated fat, cholesterol and a variety of
other substances. Most packaged foods, as well as fruit,
vegetables and raw seafood, will have to be similarly tagged.

    The big exceptions to the new truth-in-packaging program
remain meat, poultry and egg products, which are regulated by
the Department of Agriculture. Restaurant food, prepared dishes
sold in supermarkets or delicatessens, infant formula and a few
other items, most of them with little or no nutritive value,
are likewise exempt.

    "We have finally emerged from the Dark Ages of food labeling
into the Renaissance that the public deserves," said Dr.
Francois Abboud, president of the American Heart Association,
at the prospect of the labeling changes. The reform, he said,
would be useful to "millions of Americans who want to reduce
their risk of heart and blood-vessel diseases." Earlier this
year the A.H.A., bowing to criticism and threatened federal
action, scrapped its own HeartGuide seal-of-approval program
just two months after it started. "Right now, any product can
say it's high-fiber this and bran that," agreed Nancy Hailpern,
a legislative assistant for the American Cancer Society. "The
bill will do a lot to change that."

    Even food processors applauded the bill. Said C. Manly
Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America: "It
is a win-win situation for consumers and the food industry."
The full extent of the victory, however, may not be clear until
as late as 1993. The law would not go into effect until six
months after the FDA issues its final labeling regulations,
sometime within the next two years.

    But impatience with inflated health claims on labels is
already producing a mild crackdown. Phoenix Fiber Cookies were
touted as being low in fat and calories, high in fiber and
useful for treating cardiovascular disease, colon cancer,
diabetes and diverticulitis. Last May the munchables were
whisked off supermarket shelves by their manufacturer when the
FDA judged the claims to be false. Just last month, the agency
warned six food companies, including Health Valley Foods,
Select Origin and Ralston Purina, to remove cholesterol-reducing
claims from a variety of packaged foods, ranging from Oat Chex
cereal to Rice Bran Oil.


By Andrea Dorfman. Reported by Julie Johnson/Washington.


____________________________________________________________
What's good for you


    Under the new bill, claims linking a food product's
ingredients to the prevention of disease must be deemed
scientifically valid by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.

    Evidence now supports only the following:

    -- Foods rich in calcium help prevent osteoporosis.     --
Reducing salt intake helps prevent high blood pressure.    --
Reducing fat intake may reduce the risk of cardiovascular
    disease and cancer.     -- Foods rich in dietary fiber may
reduce the risk of       cardiovascular disease and cancer.