NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : FDA Acting to Curb Food Health Claims

The Food and Drug Administration is writing new rules to help stop the growth of health claims that have begun to appear on food and related products, a newspaper reported. The action, as reported in the New York Times, would end confusion over package-claim rules that began when the Ronald Reagan Administration ended an 81-year-old ban against making specific health claims on packaged foods but failed to come up with new regulations in their place. The newspaper said that a recent federal court decision in New York could make it impossible for the FDA to curb even the most exaggerated health claims unless a new national policy is formulated.