FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANY TRANS FAT FOOTNOTE IS ‘INAPPROPRIATE,’ GMA SAYS
GMA Will Provide More Comments When FDA Re-Opens Comment Period
Contact:
Scott Openshaw, Director, Communications, 202-295-3957
Brian Kennedy, Director, Communications, 202-639-5994
WASHINGTON, DC, October 9, 2003 – The Grocery Manufacturers of America opposed adding any footnote statement to the Nutrition Facts box regarding intake of cholesterol, saturated fat and/or trans fat in comments submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today.
“GMA has long supported quantitative labeling of trans fat within the Nutrition Facts box, and our member companies have already started to label the trans fat content in their products,” said GMA Director of Scientific and Nutrition Policy Alison Kretser, MS, RD. “However, a separate mandatory footnote of any sort regarding cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat is entirely inappropriate. This type of nutritional counseling is best done elsewhere, and not within the Nutrition Facts box.”
Consumer research has shown clearly that a footnote statement leads consumers to overemphasize the importance of that information at the expense of all other nutrients, calories or other nutritional considerations, explained Kretser.
FDA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes a possible mandatory footnote. FDA is also evaluating criteria for the voluntary nutrient content claims (e.g.; trans fat free, reduced trans fat, etc.) and health claims (e.g.; foods low in fat can help reduce the risk of heart disease, etc.) related to trans fat.
FDA also announced that it would re-open the comment period when the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Uses of Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) issues its report on how new DRIs should be used to update the Nutrition Facts box. In its comments, GMA commended the FDA’s recognition that the NAS report will play an important role in determining the final regulations on trans fat nutrient content claims and health claims. The NAS report originally was commissioned by the FDA in 1998, and is expected to be released in October or November 2003.
“Given the importance of the NAS’s report on DRIs and the Nutrition Facts box, GMA will submit additional comments to the FDA on nutrient content claims and health claims when FDA re-opens the comment period,” Kretser added. “We believe the most up-to-date research on trans fat and total nutrition should be used to develop the final rule, and we will rely on the NAS report to provide critical guidance to our comments at that time.”
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The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents the world’s leading food, beverage and consumer products companies. The Association promotes sound public policy, champions initiatives that increase productivity and growth and helps ensure the safety and security of consumer packaged goods through scientific excellence. The GMA board of directors is comprised of chief executive officers from the Association’s member companies. The $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry employs 14 million workers, and contributes over $1 trillion in added value to the nation’s economy. For more information, visit the GMA Web site at www.gmaonline.org
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