The Food and Drug Administration has advanced a long-awaited proposal on front-of-package nutrition labels, signaling a push by the Biden administration to release the proposal ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, FDA submitted its proposed rule, the details of which are not yet public, to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The proposal was expected to come out in October, according to OMB's latest unified agenda of federal regulations.
The front-of-package labels are a key pillar of the Biden administration’s 2022 National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Over the last two years, the agency has considered numerous visual schemes to easily display nutrition metrics like saturated fat, added sugars and sodium.
“The most important thing we can do to reduce diet-related chronic disease is to encourage consumers to consume fewer products with excess sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in a statement. “Front-of-package labeling would make avoiding such products much easier for harried shoppers.”
The proposal comes as those in the food and nutrition space are speculating about the future of FDA priorities under the incoming Trump administration — specifically, following Robert F. Kennedy’s choice to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The department includes numerous agencies including FDA, and could therefore influence the roll-out of rules like front-of-package labeling and the definition of “healthy” foods. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to release a flurry of executive orders upon assuming office Jan. 20, including a regulatory freeze on Biden administration rulemakings, according to Dan Goldbeck of the American Action Forum, a "center-right" group that provides policy analysis.
"While this may seem like a dramatic move on its face, it is standard practice for an incoming administration, especially one succeeding an administration of the other party," Goldbeck wrote last week.
Kennedy has pledged to “Make America Healthy Again” and address chronic diet-related diseases within the Trump administration. Based on his prior remarks, food and nutrition groups say he should generally be in agreement with front-of-pack labeling regulations and other nutrition rules.
However, groups are skeptical Kennedy could fully implement his MAHA agenda with Trump in the White House, based on some of the actions Trump took in his last term. For example, USDA rolled back nutrition standards for school meals put in place by the Obama administration. These included cuts to the requirements on fruits and vegetables.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
