FDA ANNOUNCES NAME CHANGES FOR LOWER-FAT MILKS AND FOLIC ACID FORTIFICATION FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS
FDA
HHS _NEWS_
_U.S. Department of Health and Human Services_
_________________________________________________________________
P97-47 FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Judith Foulke: (202) 205-4144
Dec. 31, 1997 Broadcast Media: (301) 827-3434
Consumer Inquiries (800) 532-4440
FDA ANNOUNCES NAME CHANGES FOR LOWER-FAT MILKS AND FOLIC ACID FORTIFICATION
FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS
The Food and Drug Administration today announced that starting January
1, 1998, lower-fat milk products must follow the same criteria as most
other foods labeled "low fat." This means that such products as
2-percent milk, which contains about 5 grams of fat per serving,
cannot be labeled "low fat" because the fat content is more than 3
grams per serving, the upper limit permitted in food products labeled
"low fat."
Also starting January 1, manufacturers of enriched breads, flours,
corn meals, pastas, rice and other grain products will be required to
add the nutrient folic acid to their products -- a move to reduce the
risk of neural tube birth defects in newborns. Folic acid, when
consumed in adequate amounts by women before and during early
pregnancy, reduces the risk of such birth defects as spina bifida, a
common disabling birth condition resulting from failure of the spinal
column to close.
"As the new year begins, these two new rules will help improve the
health of all Americans. Milk is so important to good nutrition, and
now consumers can fit it into low-fat diets as well," said Donna E.
Shalala, Secretary of Health and Services. "And folic acid
fortification of bakery products is one of the safest scientific
approaches we know to protect the future of our children."
Whole milk normally contains 3.25 percent milkfat or 8 grams of fat
per serving. (A serving is defined as 1 cup.) Milk labeled 1-percent
milkfat contains 2.5 grams of fat per serving, and thus qualifies for
the "low fat" claim, but 2-percent does not.
Standards of identity for lower-fat dairy products were adopted some
time before the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA).
In 1993, when regulations for NLEA went into effect, nutrient content
claims, including "low fat," were defined. However, since standards of
identity for lower-fat milk products were already in place using the
same terms, milk products with standards were exempted from the new
labeling rules.
Today's rule revokes the old standards of identity for lower-fat milk
products. Now, fat claims on milk products will mean the same as they
do for other foods.
Although two-percent milk, with its 5 grams of fat, may not be called
"low fat," the product does qualify for a "reduced fat" claim.
"Reduced fat" means that the fat content of the food has been reduced
by at least 25 percent per serving compared to the full-fat food.
Because whole milk contains 8 grams of fat, 2-percent milk with its 5
grams of fat has more than a 25 percent reduction in fat. "Light" may
be used on milk whose fat has been reduced by 50 percent or more per
serving, for example 4 grams of fat or about 1.5 percent milkfat.
"Nonfat," and "fat-free" are defined as less than 0.5 grams of fat per
serving. These terms and "skim" may be used on milk products that
qualify.
Lower-fat dairy products may continue to show the percent of milk fat
as long as the declaration is not false or misleading. For example,
the percent-milk fat declaration cannot be more than twice the size of
the name of the food. Lower-fat milk must also show a "Nutrition
Facts" panel, as do most packaged food.
The renaming of lower-fat dairy products applies to 12 products. They
are low fat milk, skim milk, low fat cottage cheese, sweetened
condensed skimmed milk, low fat dry milk, evaporated skimmed milk,
acidified low fat milk, cultured low fat milk, acidified skim milk,
cultured skim milk, sour half-and-half, and acidified sour
half-and-half. FDA has decided to defer action on claims for yogurt to
allow the industry time to resolve nutritional and technical problems
in the manufacture of low fat products.
The new rules giving consistency to claims for milkfat with other food
products are based on petitions from the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, the Milk Industry Foundation and the American Dairy
Products Institute.
Rules for folic acid fortification of enriched bakery products stemmed
from a Public Health Service recommendation in 1992 that all women of
child-bearing age consume 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily to reduce
their risk of giving birth to children with neural tube defects. As
part of the Public Health Service strategy to achieve that goal, the
FDA fortification rule is aimed at increasing folate intakes.