Defining High-In Saturated Fat, Sugar, and Sodium for Food Labeling
Author Information
Author(s): Dunford Elizabeth K., Miles Donna R., Hollingsworth Bridget A., Heller Samantha, Popkin Barry M., Ng Shu Wen, Taillie Lindsey Smith, Guzek Dominika
Primary Institution: The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Hypothesis
How does the FDA's definition of 'high-in' compare to established nutrient profile models?
Conclusion
The FDA's proposed definition of 'high-in' is less strict than other regional models, potentially limiting its effectiveness in identifying unhealthy foods.
Supporting Evidence
- 48% of foods and 32% of beverages would receive a 'high-in' label under the FDA's proposed criteria.
- The FDA's proposed NPM was less strict than the three existing regional NPMs.
- Agreement between the FDA and Canadian NPM was highest for food products.
- Only 15% of foods would have two 'high-in' labels under the FDA approach.
Takeaway
This study looks at how many packaged foods and drinks in the US would get a 'high-in' label for sugar, fat, or salt, and finds that the FDA's rules are not as strict as others.
Methodology
Analysis of 51,809 US products from Mintel’s Global New Products Database to compare FDA's 'high-in' criteria with three established nutrient profile models.
Limitations
The study only includes new products and may not represent all products on the market; some food categories had low sample sizes.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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