Nutrition Labeling and Education Act
In the summer of 1991, a Congressional investigation uncovered an improperly conducted food consumption survey. That doesn't sound so bad, but the survey, performed every decade and costing 7.6 billion dollars, is used by the government for setting such policies as nutritional status, school lunch programs and allowable pesticide levels in foods. The scientific panel from the General Accounting Office which uncovered the problem said the marketing company which conducted the 1987 survey maintained that some of the data was lost, but finally admitted that it had never been done. Despite this, the Food and Drug Administration has decided to use the survey anyway.
It is surveys such as this which the government used to pass the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, and begin going into effect late this fall. (The entire law will not be in effect until 1993.) The new law, the first update since 1938, regulates terms used on food packages as well as health claims. Although it's a step in the right direction to help consumers, companies are already finding new methods of deception. One crafty example is a company which promotes "their new labeling" so consumers are aware how good their product is, when actually the company is now required to produce that "new" label. Of course it's all legal: companies spend millions a year promoting products, some methods disguised as educational. That's why most people get most their nutritional information from advertisements.
One positive aspect of the new law is that it regulates those words frequently used by companies to fool consumers. The FDA will have more specific definitions for "light," "low," "free," "reduced," "less" and "high." And it also restricts using "sodium free" and "cholesterol free" when these substances are not normally present in the food. But there are an endless number of exceptions: a "no cholesterol" claim for margarine, and the word "diet" on soda labels are just two examples.
The new law also requires all retail food produce have labels explaining content, including fresh foods like seafood and meats, and percentages for juice content labeling of fruit and vegetable juices. Exemptions include restaurant carry-out food, infant formula and foods manufactured by companies whose sales are less than $500,000 annually.