Labeling Rules May Ax Some ‘Light’ Foods

Consumers will find fewer canned meats and cheeses claiming to be “light” in the coming year as sweeping new food labeling regulations take effect, food makers said Thursday.

Makers of cereals, frozen dinners and canned fruits and vegetables will probably be able to meet the government’s new rules by tinkering with product formulas. But makers of cheese and canned meats--which are naturally high in fat--will find it necessary to drop their claims because it is too hard to comply with the new rules, industry representatives said.

The rules were announced Wednesday by the Bush Administration, breaking a deadlock between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, the two agencies that regulate the nation’s food labels.

The rules take effect in May, 1994, but the changes will start showing up on grocery shelves as early as mid-1993.

The rules, designed to end consumer confusion over product claims such as “light,” “low fat” and “low sodium,” do not entirely end the food labeling controversy.

Consumer advocacy groups said Thursday that they were disappointed that the rules do not apply to restaurants, where more than one-third of all food is eaten. One group has threatened to sue over the issue.

The rules also do not address a definition for the word “healthy,” which processed food makers consider to be the buzzword for the 1990s. Consumer groups are seeking a strict definition that would allow “healthy” only on entrees or meal-type foods that are low in fat, sodium and cholesterol.

“Otherwise, a glass of water can be healthy,” said Allen Rosenfeld, director of government affairs for Public Voice, a Washington-based advocacy group. Although the body needs water, it has no nutritional value, Rosenfeld said.

As a result of the new rules, canned meat producers won’t be able to reduce the fat in their products enough to meet the government’s definition of light, said James Marsden, a spokesman for the American Meat Institute. The government says a light food must have 50% less fat or one-third less calories than the food to which it is being compared.

“The technological obstacles are too great,” said Marsden, referring to canned meats. “You end up with an unpalatable product.”

Packaged items such as hot dogs and luncheon meats, however, can comply with the standards for light foods, Marsden said.

Dairy products, especially cheeses, face a challenge. Rosenfeld of Public Voice said virtually every light cheese maker will have to change the product or the label because the fat content is too high.

“Cheese will have a difficult time,” acknowledged Susannah Stoll, spokeswoman for the International Dairy Foods Assn., an industry group.

Kraft-General Foods, the nation’s leading producer of processed cheese, said it couldn’t comment on the new regulations because it has not yet reviewed them in detail. Several of the nation’s leading meat processors did not respond to calls for comment Thursday.

The new rules do not apply to low-fat milk or low-fat yogurt, products covered by existing federal regulations. Rosenfeld of Public Voice said neither product as formulated would meet the new definition of low fat, which requires that the food have no more than three grams of fat a serving. Low-fat milk, he said, has five grams per serving.

The restaurant industry was pleased with the government’s decision to exempt it from the regulations.

The industry had successfully argued that uniform standards were impossible, given that each meal is individually prepared. The industry also argued that the small restaurateurs that make up the bulk of its ranks would not be able to afford the equipment necessary to precisely determine the fat, sodium and cholesterol content of each meal.

But consumer groups said the decision would lead to greater confusion because consumers would expect a restaurant meal labeled light to be nutritionally similar to a processed food making that claim.

In restaurant parlance, light often means less filling.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest said it is considering a suit over the exemption.