Food-Labeling Changes Urged to Undo ‘Mess’

Health Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, calling the current food-labeling system “a real mess,” said today the government will propose new regulations to give consumers more information about the foods they buy.

The proposed changes would require disclosure of the fat, fiber and cholesterol content of most foods and require that they meet certain standardized definitions to be called “low fat” or “high fiber,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan told a food policy conference that the current food-labeling system “is a real mess” that confuses and frustrates consumers.

“The grocery store has become a Tower of Babel,” he said, “and consumers need to be linguists, scientists and mind readers to understand the many labels they encounter.

“Some food labels are hard to read and understand. Vital information is missing, and frankly some unfounded health claims are being made in the marketplace.”

Sullivan said the Food and Drug Administration will propose a three-phase change in food-labeling regulations, starting with provisions that have the most support.

In the next six months, the FDA will issue a proposal requiring nutrition labeling for most foods. Currently, nutrition labeling is required only when a food manufacturer adds vitamins, minerals or proteins or makes a nutritional claim about the product. About 60% of packaged foods list nutrients.

The FDA also wants to revise the list of nutrients required on the label to include such things as saturated fat, fiber, cholesterol and calories from fat. Some currently required nutrients, including some vitamins, would be made optional.

Later this year, the FDA plans to define food descriptions such as “low fat” and “high fiber” and determine whether to require percentage listing of ingredients and whether specific flavors, colors and spices should be on the label.

In the third phase, which will not begin until 1991, the FDA will propose revisions in the nutrition label format.

Few changes in labeling requirements have been made over the last 17 years, and “clearly, the time has come for significant food-labeling reform,” Sullivan said.

The last time U.S. food labels were changed significantly was in 1973, when the FDA established requirements based on a conference convened by President Richard M. Nixon.