The Legislative Future of the U.S. Food Landscape
As one of the richest countries in the world, the American struggle with nutrition and overall health is a paradoxical quandary. According to the FDA, approximately 80% of people in the U.S. are not eating enough vegetables, fruit, and dairy, with most overconsuming added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. Increasing scrutiny of the American food system over the past few years has uncovered dated legislation and ineffective bureaucracy as contributing factors to Americans’ nutritional illiteracy. CPGs may soon need to adjust their business to better align with the changing U.S. food landscape. At the forefront of these legislative advancements is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which recently proposed to consolidate the Human Foods Program and redefine the “healthy” claim on product labels. Closely monitoring the details and timelines of these changes is essential for preparing CPG brands for the potential impact on their business and the industry.
The New “Healthy”
The new interpretation accounts for modern nutrition science, the updated Nutrition Facts label, and the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The “healthiness” of a product focuses on the equivalence of a serving of one of the food groups or subgroups (e.g., fruit, vegetable, dairy, etc.) and percentage limits for certain nutrients (e.g., saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars) it possesses. The primary goal is to simplify the nutrition experience for consumers, making the claim “healthy”, a more accurate, identifiable symbol to represent a product’s nutritional content. With the FDA entering an era of reorganization, as was proposed at the beginning of 2023, these adjustments are expected to be more successfully enforced.
Potential Impact on CPGs
The Consumer Brands Association (CBA), a trade association for manufacturers of consumer packaged goods, is just one of many voices that have spoken up against the impracticality of their rigid approach and recommended an alternative, flexible framework. The CBA stated that the FDA’s current proposal would result in a framework that would automatically disqualify a vast majority of packaged foods. Brands all across the industry are arguing against the strictness of the ruling, with reasons such as the unintentional exclusion of nutrient-rich foods as protested by Baby food company Happy Family Organics to the American Cheese Society’s response that “healthy”, as a claim, cannot be reduced to singular food interaction but should instead be utilized within a complete diet/lifestyle context, as reported by the Washington Post. Furthermore, many food brands find the limits on saturated fat and added sugars (less than 10% of calories per day for ages two and older), as well as sodium (less than 2,300mg per day (or even less if younger than 14)) the most challenging to conform to, with some brands specifically upset at the added sugars limits, which have not existed in past rulings.
The Bigger Picture
Making nutrition more comprehensive for consumers and regulatory oversight more efficient is foundational for a healthier American future. Yet, the reality of the food and beverage industry and where on the health spectrum many brands currently reside will prove to be an obstacle on the road to successfully bettering American health through legislative means. As the expectations of CPGs continue to change, brands must prepare themselves to meet them or pivot their current business models in response to consumer reactions.