Mohammed V University

Faculty of sciences, Rabat

Master of Sciences and Agroalimentary Technologies
English Course (Fall 2022)
Prof. Rachid EL MENAOUAR

Text Number : 4
What Is a ‘Healthy’ Food? The F.D.A. Wants to Change the Definition.
Salmon is in; sugary yogurt is out.

Dani Blum, The New York Times, Sept. 29, 2022

The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a new proposal on Wednesday that would change the criteria for which
packaged foods the agency considers “healthy,” in an attempt to modernize its approach to nutrition and reduce the
burden of diet-related diseases.
Currently, about 5 percent of all packaged foods are labeled “healthy,” according to the agency. The definition, which
was set in 1994, allows for food manufacturers to add the word “healthy” to their products, as long as the products have
limited amounts of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and provide at least 10 percent of the daily value of
one or more of the following nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein or dietary fiber. (Seafood, game
meat and raw fruits and vegetables have slightly different criteria.) In 2016, the F.D.A. updated its guidelines to allow
for some foods to contain more total fat and to include some that provide at least 10 percent of the daily value of vitamin
D or potassium.
Crucially, there is currently no limit on added sugars under the current definition — an omission that the F.D.A. believes
is inconsistent with today’s nutrition science.
“The old rule was really outdated — you could create any kind of Frankenstein food that met the nutrient criteria and
label it as healthy,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition at the Tufts Friedman School
of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. “This is a major advance.”
The proposed rule, which the agency announced to coincide with Wednesday’s White House Conference on Hunger,
Nutrition and Health, introduces a new limit on added sugars — in general, no more than 2.5 grams per serving,
although this can vary depending on the food. It also restricts the amount of sodium to no more than 230 milligrams
per serving and provides limits for saturated fat, which can similarly vary depending on the food, the F.D.A. said.
A six-ounce serving of yogurt, for example, would not qualify as “healthy” under the new rule if it contained more than
2.5 grams, or 5 percent of the daily value, of added sugars; a frozen dinner of salmon, green beans and brown rice
would not qualify as “healthy” if it contained more than four grams of saturated fat.
The new definition aims to encourage healthy eating by prioritizing a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, proteins
and certain oils, including vegetable oils. A “healthy” food would need to contain a minimum amount of at least one

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of those food groups and be under the proposed limits for saturated fats, sodium and added sugars. Raw whole fruits
and vegetables would automatically qualify.
“Those criteria will eliminate vast swaths of the supermarket from being eligible for the healthy logo,” said Marion
Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.
Many sugary cereals, granola bars, highly sweetened yogurts and white breads, which might currently qualify as
“healthy” under the existing definition, would be eliminated under the new rule.
Water, avocados, nuts and seeds, fatty fish like salmon, and certain oils — which do not currently qualify as “healthy”
— could earn the distinction under the new guidelines.
The new definition of “healthy” emphasizes whether a food fits into a healthy dietary pattern overall, as opposed to just
focusing on a food’s individual nutrients. Salmon, for example, which isn’t considered “healthy” under the current
definition because it is high in fat, would earn the new “healthy” distinction because it is rich in beneficial omega-3
fatty acids and protein and low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
“The F.D.A. has been really behind the times when it comes to making stricter guidelines for these things,” said Dr.
Selvi Rajagopal, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and a diplomat of the American Board
of Obesity Medicine. “When I read this, I thought, OK, this is good. I was pleased.”
Typically, after the F.D.A. proposes a rule, the agency seeks commentary from outside health experts and the general
public before the rule can go into effect, said Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director and president of the Center for Science
in the Public Interest. The process can take a year or more, he added.
While he applauded some aspects of the proposed update, especially the limit on added sugars, Dr. Lurie stressed that
there is a fundamental problem with the label, which as with the current label, would remain voluntary. Consumers
might erroneously think that any foods without a “healthy” label are automatically unhealthy. “It’s not really helpful in
that respect,” he said. “It allows the industry to decide what to convey to the consumer, as opposed to providing the
consumer with what they would clearly want.”
Instead, Dr. Lurie and others in the nutrition field are pushing for new standardized, mandatory nutrition labels placed
on the front of food packages, which the F.D.A. is currently looking into.
In the meantime, the agency hopes that an updated definition will help consumers make better dietary decisions, to help
lower the incidence of “diet-related chronic diseases” like cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. More than 80
percent of people living in the United States aren’t getting enough vegetables, fruit and dairy in their diets, according
to the F.D.A.
“There’s been so much mixed messaging on what’s healthy and what’s not,” Dr. Rajagopal said. “The average
consumer just doesn’t have a baseline.