Less Baloney on the Shelves

By ANDREA DORFMAN

The American grocery store, claims Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan, has become a "Tower of Babel." Consumers need to be linguists, scientists and mind readers to understand the overblown health claims on labels that blare at them from supermarket shelves. And even those skills may not be enough. "Light" may mean low calorie to most health- conscious consumers, but on a bottle of Bertolli Extra Light olive oil, the term refers to its color. Hostess Light cupcakes are said to be "low fat, no cholesterol," but that does not mean they are low-cal.

To consumers whose goal is merely to eat well at minimum risk, it can all be very heavy going. So there was applause from many quarters last week as Congress passed a sweeping truth-in-labeling bill, the first comprehensive revision of national nutritional labeling laws in 17 years. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, which awaits President Bush's signature to become law, will make food manufacturers and processors provide more nutritional information on virtually all foods, and bar them from making scientifically unsubstantiated health claims.

Among other things, the bill should stop a plethora of misleading disease- prevention claims on foods ranging from oat-bran doughnuts and cereals to cholesterol-free peanut butter and "lite" desserts. "For too long consumers who want a healthier diet have been besieged by inaccurate nutrition claims," said Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, the bill's chief sponsor in the Senate. Now, he added, "a bold health claim on the front of the package won't be contradicted by the fine print on the back."

The bill directs the Food and Drug Administration to draft standard definitions of such terms as light, low fat, reduced calories and high fiber, which are routinely bandied about on everything from cereal boxes to mayonnaise jars and tortilla-chips packages. The FDA will allow health claims only in areas where scientifically valid links between diet and health have been established. About 60% of the roughly 20,000 food labels in supermarkets display information about the calories, vitamins and minerals contained in various foods. When the FDA completes its work, labels will also have to disclose the number of calories derived from fat and the amount of dietary fiber, saturated fat, cholesterol and a variety of other substances. Most packaged foods, as well as fruit, vegetables and raw seafood, will have to be similarly tagged.

The big exceptions to the new truth-in-packaging program remain meat, poultry and egg products, which are regulated by the Department of Agriculture. Restaurant food, prepared dishes sold in supermarkets or delicatessens, infant formula and a few other items, most of them with little or no nutritive value, are likewise exempt.

"We have finally emerged from the Dark Ages of food labeling into the Renaissance that the public deserves," said Dr. Francois Abboud, president of the American Heart Association, at the prospect of the labeling changes. The reform, he said, would be useful to "millions of Americans who want to reduce their risk of heart and blood-vessel diseases." Earlier this year the A.H.A., bowing to criticism and threatened federal action, scrapped its own HeartGuide seal-of-approval program just two months after it started. "Right now, any product can say it's high-fiber this and bran that," agreed Nancy Hailpern, a legislative assistant for the American Cancer Society. "The bill will do a lot to change that."

Even food processors applauded the bill. Said C. Manly Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America: "It is a win-win situation for consumers and the food industry." The full extent of the victory, however, may not be clear until as late as 1993. The law would not go into effect until six months after the FDA issues its final labeling regulations, sometime within the next two years.

But impatience with inflated health claims on labels is already producing a mild crackdown. Phoenix Fiber Cookies were touted as being low in fat and calories, high in fiber and useful for treating cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, diabetes and diverticulitis. Last May the munchables were whisked off supermarket shelves by their manufacturer when the FDA judged the claims to be false. Just last month, the agency warned six food companies, including Health Valley Foods, Select Origin and Ralston Purina, to remove cholesterol-reducing claims from a variety of packaged foods, ranging from Oat Chex cereal to Rice Bran Oil.

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CREDIT: TIME Chart

CAPTION: What's good for you

With reporting by Julie Johnson/Washington