clarinews@clarinet.com (REBECCA KOLBERG, UPI Science Writer) (02/10/90)
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Consumer activists Friday praised a government move to cap an ``explosion'' of health claims on food products, but said even stronger steps should be taken to protect Americans from misleading messages. The Food and Drug Administration proposed new regulations Friday that would sharply restrict food health claims to well documented links between diet and disease, such as low-fat foods reducing risk of heart disease. The rules would replace a 1987 plan put forth by the Reagan administration allowing health claims for food products -- an action that created an avalanche of labels and advertisements touting everything from cereals to margarine as disease preventers. Before that, the FDA had barred companies for making claims linking a food to prevention or treatment of a particular disease. ``In hindsight, the 1987 proposal has proved to be too permissive,'' said Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan. ``An interim policy is needed to serve as a mid-course correction and provide guidance to industry on what health messages will and will not be allowed.'' ``Only with such a consistent set of standards can Americans be sure of the meaning of health information on food labels,'' Sullivan said. The new proposal would allow companies to make health claims only if they fall within a narrow range of messages on relationships between diet and health benefits. Recent nutritional studies by the U.S. surgeon general and the National Academy of Sciences would be used as the yardstick. The FDA would consider claims in six areas: fats and heart disease, fiber and heart disease, salt and high blood pressure, fats and cancer, fiber and cancer and calcium and osteoporosis, or ``brittle bone'' disease. ``As science finds additional links between diet and health, these could also be included in our health messages policy,'' Sullivan said. Charles Mitchell, a lawyer for Center for Science in the Public Interest, called the proposal ``definitely a step in the right direction.'' ``It is a real improvement over the 1987 proposal, and if it is enforced well, it should stop some of the most grievous claims,'' Mitchell said. The new rules probably would not allow claims like those trumpeting that vitamin B in cereal can boost energy and the vitamin A in butter can make skin smooth, he said. One shortfall of the proposal is that it fails to cover general claims that a food is ``high-fiber'' or ``low cholesterol,'' but which do not mention a specific disease, Mitchell said. ``The explosion in health claims in the last few years has created a situation where a company doesn't even need to mention a disease to trade in on a general public perception, such as low cholesterol reducing risk for heart disease,'' he said. Mitchell said new regulations must ensure that a food making a health claim is nutritionally sound overall. For example, he said cereals should not be allowed to make fiber-cancer health claims, if they contain high levels of fat or sodium, which boost the risk of other diseases. Nearly 40 percent of foods introduced in the first half of 1989 bore health claims and one-third of the $3.6 billion spent on food advertising features health-related messages, the industry estimates. The National Food Processors Association had no immediate comment on the government policy shift. The FDA proposal would set up model labels for health claims, and require manufacturers to prepare scientific and consumer summaries explaining the reasoning behind their claims. Companies would not have to present test data to support specific health claims unless asked. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register next week, and will be followed by a 60-day comment period.