What makes a food healthy? For the first time in 30 years, the Food and Drug Administration is updating its claim on what food products can use the word “healthy” on their labels.
And both the foods being taken off the list and the new foods now approved to use that claim might surprise you.
“This was long overdue. The term ‘healthy’ as used as a claim for foods is way out of date,” says Dr. Donald Hensrud, a Mayo Clinic physician specializing in nutrition and the editor of “The Mayo Clinic Diet.”
Dr. Hensrud says the FDA’s updated claim for using the word “healthy” on packaging labels is more in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and things like fortified white bread, highly sweetened cereals and yogurt with added sugars will no longer be labeled as “healthy.”
“Now, when people see the simple term ‘healthy food’ on foods, it meets certain criteria. There’s evidence supporting its health. It contains low amounts of saturated fat and sodium like it did before, but now also low amounts of sugar,” he says.
Some new foods that have been added to the “healthy” label list are fruits, vegetables, eggs, whole grains, fatty fish such as salmon, olive oil, nuts, seeds and even water. “And we know from years of research that these foods are healthy,” says Dr. Hensrud.
“The FDA is going to work on a symbol that foods can use that have the healthy claim approved for it, and that’ll make it easier for people to identify healthy foods,” he says.
