New Proposed FDA Regulations Make Food Healthier: Big Food Pushes Back!
They Reduce Fat, Salt, and Sugar
The combination of fat, salt, sugar, and processed carbs is addictive. That combination and careful attention to texture makes a potato chip so pleasurable that “no one can eat just one.” Americans with weight problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure need to cut back on salt and sugar, but they are everywhere and in everything. It is very difficult to find low sodium and low sugar products. You can always add sugar and salt, but you cannot get it out. The FDA recommendations make total sense.
“Under the proposal, manufacturers can label their products “healthy” only if they contain a meaningful amount of food from at least one of the main food groups such as fruit, vegetable or dairy, as recommended by federal dietary guidelines. They must also adhere to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.
It’s the added sugar limit that has been the sticking point for many food executives. The FDA’s previous rules put limits around saturated fat and sodium but did not include limits on added sugars.”
This is a really critical issue. Poor diet kills more people that smoking cigarettes, high blood pressure, or any other health risk, according to a new scientific study. The new FDA regulations won’t force you to eat healthier foods, they will make labels more useful for people who want to keep their health. As it stands now, the labels are not useful, and there are very few prepared foods that are healthy. Big food can still sell unhealthy food. We just need healthier food with a helpful label. Poor diet, especially not eating enough healthy food, kills one in five people worldwide.
The most effective way of helping people move toward healthier food is with a black box warning label like those found on cigarettes. They are already used in “Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico and Israel. In Chile, black warning labels shaped like stop signs are required for packaged food and drinks that exceed, per 100 grams: 275 calories, 400 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of sugar or four grams of saturated fats.”
It is really important that you understand this. The food industry is like other big industries. Success is totally measured in dollars. The more you sell, the more money you make, and there is no doubt that people like me have little control over eating potato chips, biscuits, or ice cream. The more I eat, the more I want. That is why they are pushing back. They want me to buy more pizza and potato chips! The more salt you eat, the more you want. The more sugar you eat, the more you want. You are not fat and sick, because you are weak and have no willpower. You are fat and sick because you have not figured out this has been done to you. Big food puts us on the tee and Big Medicine whacks us with the driver. The FDA labels are a step in the right direction.