The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a revised definition of what a “healthy food” consists of, and eggs meet the criteria.
The recently proposed definition will determine which foods can be labelled with the nutrient content claim “healthy” on product packaging. The definition is not a finalized rule and has a 90-day comment period that ends on December 28,2022.
The definition
The proposed definition revises the “healthy” claim to better account for how nutrients in different food groups work together to create healthy dietary patterns and impact health. Additionally, the rule removes the limit on dietary cholesterol, which is no longer deemed a nutrient of public health concern.
This rule would allow for more foods that are recommended by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to be eligible to use the claim on labeling, including nuts and seeds, higher fat fish, certain oils and water.
According to the FDA, a product must contain a “certain meaningful amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (e.g., fruit, vegetable, dairy, etc.) recommended by the Dietary Guidelines” to meet the definition’s criteria. Additionally, a product must adhere to specific limits that are based on a percent of the Daily Value for certain nutrients such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. The limits will vary depending on the food and food group.
Robert M. Califf, M.D., FDA Commissioner, stated: “Today’s action is an important step toward accomplishing a number of nutrition-related priorities, which include empowering consumers with information to choose healthier diets and establishing healthy eating habits early. It can also result in a healthier food supply.”
Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said: “Healthy food can lower our risk for chronic disease. But too many people may not know what constitutes healthy food. FDA’s move will help educate more Americans to improve health outcomes, tackle health disparities and save lives.”
