KIND is urging the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to update its regulations around the term healthy when used as a nutrient content claim in food labeling. The company filed a Citizen Petition with the goal of addressing outdated regulations, as well as helping to ensure that the public receive sound and consistent guidance about nutrition.
The petition requests better alignment between food labeling regulations, the latest nutrition science and federal dietary guidelines. The petition reflects broad support within the food science and nutrition community to call attention to the importance of eating real foods made with wholesome and nutrient-rich ingredients as part of a healthy diet.
Currently, the FDA mandates that the term healthy only be used as a nutrient content claim to describe foods that contain 3g or less total fat and 1g or less of saturated fat per serving, with the exception of fish and meat, which are required by the regulation to have 5g or less total fat and 2g or less saturated fat per serving. Today’s regulations preclude nutrient-rich foods such as nuts, avocados, olives and salmon from using the term healthy as a nutrient content claim.
“KIND, with the support from top global nutrition and public health experts, is respectfully urging the FDA to update its current regulations surrounding the use of the word healthy as a nutrient content claim. Our goal is to highlight the importance of following a healthy diet that includes foods made with wholesome and nutrient-dense ingredients,” said Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and CEO of KIND.
“The current regulations were created with the best intentions when the available science supported dietary recommendations limiting total fat intake. However, current science tells us that the unsaturated fats in nutrient-dense foods like nuts, seeds and certain fish are beneficial to overall health,” continued Lubetzky.
In addition to requesting updates to the current nutrient content claim regulations, KIND is also asking the FDA to implement a framework for regulating dietary guidance statements.
Last April KIND had to change some of its labels after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to the company about calling several of its bars “healthy” when they didn't comply with FDA standards for using that word.
