Labels That Are Good for Your Health : President Bush chooses stricter FDA standards on most food-labeling issues

“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are,” wrote the 19th- Century French author, Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. The 20th-Century American version might well be, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you how healthy you are likely be.”

The connection between diet and a number of diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer, has become clearer in recent years. And Americans are increasingly drawn to food products advertised as being lower in fat, salt and cholesterol. As a result, some food producers have, unfortunately, made questionable nutritional claims about their products that raised eyebrows at the Food and Drug Administration; FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler last year ordered several companies to drop misleading claims such as “fresh” and “cholesterol free” from product packages. Another problem is that current labeling regulations do not require manufacturers to present complete or consistent information that would allow consumers to compare the nutritional value of one product to another.

This confusion will soon end, and all Americans will be much the better--and possibly healthier--for it.

President Bush last week resolved a long-running, parochial dispute between the FDA and the Department of Agriculture in favor of consumers. The sweeping revision of food labels that the President approved will, for the first time, require producers to present uniform information on food packages about serving sizes and nutrients. Just as significant, the new labels will present this information in the context of a daily intake of 2,000 calories. The new regulations will also standardize such oft-abused terms as low and reduced fat .

Congress sought the new regulations to comply with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. But their scope and content were the subject of a heated debate between the FDA and the Agriculture Department, which, under pressure from meat and poultry producers, supported less stringent guidelines. The President chose the stricter FDA standards on most issues.

The new labels may appear on products beginning in mid-1993; they will be required on virtually all processed foods by May, 1994.

The rules are not perfect. Bush exempted items on restaurant menus, for example, from the new standardized descriptions. And the rules apply only to labeling, not advertising, which the Federal Trade Commission regulates. As a result, food manufacturers theoretically could make advertising claims that are not borne out on the label on that product.

All of this means that consumers must pay attention to the fine print. Before too long it will actually mean something.