What’s healthy? New rules are coming from the FDA to help answer that question

The Food and Drug Administration has new rules proposed for labeling foods healthy, rules that go to salt, fat and sugar content. These rules will allow foods to put labels on the front instead of the back of their packaging and to call themselves “healthy” if they meet the new criteria, reports the Washington Post.

“Under the proposal, manufacturers can label their products “healthy” if they contain a meaningful amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (such as fruit, vegetable or dairy) recommended by the dietary guidelines. They must also adhere to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. For example, a cereal would need to contain three-quarters of an ounce of whole grains and no more than 1 gram of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium and 2.5 grams of added sugars per serving for a food manufacturer to use the word “healthy” on the label.” the Post reports.

It’s good to see salt content getting more attention, maybe now we’ll start to see some meaningful reductions in salt content for processed foods.

Sadly in recent years, even food and what is healthy have become political footballs. The Obama administration was strongly behind improving school lunch menus and encouraging children especially to develop healthier diets. The Trump administration abandoned those efforts. The Biden administration seems to again be addressing America’s obesity epidemic and poor eating habits. Hopefully, that will continue even if Republicans regain control of Congress in the upcoming mid-term elections.