09.01.04
FDA recently sought comment from the public concerning expanding the use of health claims for certain foods. The FDA specifically sought comment on allowing health claims for foods that have a relatively small amount of a positive nutrient and on permitting health claims for foods that have both a positive nutrient and a problematic nutrient. In response to this request, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, and Office of Policy Planning filed a comment encouraging FDA to consider allowing truthful, non-misleading health claims for more foods. Permitting such claims, according to the FTC staff, would “help consumers make informed dietary choices and . . . promote competition among manufacturers to develop and market healthier food products.” The FTC staff recommended that the FDA make its regulatory decisions consistent with the results of consumer research on ways that health claims may be made for foods without deceiving consumers. In concluding its comment, the FTC’s staff wrote, “We support the FDA’s ongoing efforts to develop an empirically based approach to health claims for food products and to assess the costs and benefits of alternatives to the current regulations’ reliance on potentially over-exclusive minimum and maximum requirements for making health claims on food labels…Revising its regulations to allow food marketers to provide greater and more accurate health-related information will assist consumers in selecting from a wider range of foods as they attempt to construct healthful diets.”