FDA to food industry: Cut the salt

Comment on FDA draft guidance on Dietary Guidance Statements

CSPI appreciates FDA’s efforts to encourage manufacturers to leverage food labels for the purpose of nutrition education with this draft guidance for industry titled "Questions and Answers About Dietary Guidance Statements in Food Labeling." In this draft guidance, FDA establishes a new category of claims for food labeling (“Dietary Guidance Statements”) and defines Dietary Guidance Statements as statements in food labeling that “represent or suggest that an individual food or food group may contribute to or help maintain a nutritious dietary pattern” and provides examples of Dietary Guidance Statements.

FDA urged to reduce Americans’ sodium consumption by setting 10-year reduction targets in food

Toolkit: Nutrient warnings

This toolkit is intended to support advocates who want to lead campaigns calling for state and local nutrient warnings on restaurant menus. We outline how nutrient warnings can be used to reduce the purchases of unhealthy foods and drinks, encourage reformulation, and build stronger, healthier, more resilient communities that are better prepared to withstand future public health challenges.

Nutrient warnings

In this factsheet, we review relevant, scientific literature on nutrient warnings for a science and policy audience. Overall, evidence from randomized controlled trials and real-world studies suggests that nutrient warnings can increase consumers’ understanding of the healthfulness of foods and have the potential to play a role in reducing purchases of foods and drinks high in calories, sodium, and added sugars. To maximize public health impact, policymakers should design nutrient warnings to be simple, highly visible, and convey information with shapes, icons, and other imagery in addition to text.