FDA Proposes Updates To “Healthy” Claim On Food Packages

SILVER SPRING, MD – Going to the grocery store and grabbing something labeled “healthy” means it’s actually healthy, right? Not necessarily.

There are new standards in the works that foods have to meet before that label can get stamped on its packages. That’s because “healthy” is a regulated claim, which was first defined in 1994.

The Food and Drug Administration says things have changed since then, so the standards need to change too.

For example, there are some cereals that have a lot of added sugar but still meet the definition of the healthy claim, while salmon, which is high in beneficial polyunsaturated fat, does not.

This new “healthy” claim would consider all of the nutrients in foods. The changes come on the same day the White House released a new national strategy to end hunger and improve nutrition and physical activity.