In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Agency responsible for supervising food products, cosmetics, drugs and many other products, recently reviewed its definition of “healthy” food. An initiative motivated by the many public health challenges with which the country has faced, taken for the first time in thirty years, has been teaching us Sciencealt.
Agrifood manufacturers will soon be able to display a new symbol, currently under development by the FDA, indicating whether their product is considered to be “healthy”. The objective is to allow consumers to quickly identify foods in accordance with the nutritional recommendations of the Department of Health and Social Services, like the Nutri-Score in Europe.
An alarming situation
The new ranking emphasizes the reduction of saturated fats. And insists on a fact now known: there is fat and fat. “Not all fats are equal”explains Claudine Kavanaugh of the FDA. Avocats, nuts, seeds, eggs and olive oil are now recognized as healthy foods. On the other hand, fruity snacks, cereal bars rich in sugar, enriched breakfast cereals and yogurts or fruit juices with added sugars are excluded from this category.
This change in regulation occurs in a context of national crisis: the number of chronic diseases related to food is exploding. According to FDA experts, the situation requires immediate action. Jim Jones, a senior manager of the Federal Agency, said that diet-related diseases (such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease) are the main cause of disability and illness in the United States.
A study published in the Harvard scientific journal indicates that 77% of Americans exceed the recommendations in saturated fat consumption, 63% in added sugars and 90% consume too much sodium. However, the FDA did not provide a date concerning the entry into force of the new symbol.
