 |
|
     |
|
 |
FDA ALLOWS NEW HEALTH CLAIMS ON FOOD LABELS
Thanks to a new FDA regulation, a box of cereal containing folic acid can now be stamped with the claim that folic acid "may reduce the risk of some birth defects" -- the same kind of claim that a dietary supplement containing folic acid can already make. The FDA says the change will help people improve their diets, but critics of the new regulation say it is another excuse not to tighten regulations on dietary supplements.
Previously, food labels bearing specific health claims were subject to a standard of "significant scientific agreement" as determined by a FDA review. Supplement labels, on the other hand, can contain health claims if the "weight of scientific evidence" supports the claim. Supplement labels are not reviewed by the FDA, but must contain a sentence saying that the FDA has determined the health claim to be "inconclusive."
Instead of raising the standard for supplements -- a move advocated by the New England Journal of Medicine and others -- the FDA relaxed regulations on food to bring them in line with the "weight of evidence" standard.
"Such labeling can help empower consumers to make smart, healthy choices about the foods that they buy and consume," said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.
Howard Metzenbaum, former U.S. senator and chairman of the Consumer Federation of America, said the change "sends the food industry down the path of confusing and misleading claims that has characterized dietary supplements in recent years."
To read the FDA's decision on the regulation change, go to http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/02d-0515-nad0001.pdf.
|
|
|||||
 |
|||||||
