(P21-005-23) Proportions of Packaged Foods in Various Food Categories in the U.S. Marketplace That Met the Proposed Updated FDA Criteria for “Healthy” Labeling

Objectives: This analysis estimated the extent to which foods in select packaged food product categories in the U.S. marketplace met the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed updated criteria for the “healthy” label claim. The proposed updated criteria, which are designed to align with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), are markedly different from current criteria. Current criteria are entirely nutrient based, whereas the proposed updated criteria include the requirement that food products contain a minimum amount of one or more food groups recommended in the DGA, and limited amounts of added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat.

Methods: The 2022 version of the University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center Food and Nutrient Database was used to determine the proportion of packaged foods in the following food product categories that met the proposed updated “healthy” labeling criteria: yogurts, ice creams, margarines, oils, cookies and bars, dessert snack cakes and pies, crackers, ready-to-eat cereals, and hot (cooked) cereals.

Results: The proportion of products meeting the proposed updated criteria ranged from 0-88 percent across the categories examined. Food categories with the highest proportions of foods meeting the proposed updated “healthy” label criteria included oils (88%), yogurts (27%), crackers (16%), and hot (cooked) cereals (15%). The extent to which food products met specific nutrient/food group requirements varied substantially across food categories. For example, the low percent of crackers meeting the “healthy” labeling criteria (16%) was primarily due to a low percent of products meeting the whole grain requirement for this food product category. In contrast, the low percent of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals meeting the criteria (9%) was primarily due to a low percent of products meeting the requirement that the Daily Value (DV) for added sugar be no greater than 5% per reference amount customarily consumed.

Conclusions: For most of the food product categories examined a small proportion of products were found to meet the proposal "healthy" labeling claim criteria, which suggests the claim may be used on product packaging to a limited extent unless food manufacturers formulate their products and/or the FDA liberalizes labeling claim criteria prior to issuing a final rule.

Funding Sources: None