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Better Health Information for Better Nutrition

The nation today is facing a public health crisis called obesity. Experts estimate that nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight, increasing their risk of heart disease, diabetes and other serious health problems. One way to help improve this situation is to make nutritional information about foods available and understandable to American consumers. A major FDA initiative announced in 2002 addresses this need by making major improvements in the information consumers receive about the foods they eat.

As part of the initiative, FDA's Task Force on Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition has unveiled a new process to provide more science-based, FDA-regulated information on product labels about the health consequences of foods and dietary supplements. Detailed in a July 10, 2003, report, this process will improve information on dietary health benefits for consumers and will encourage product manufacturers to compete based on scientifically demonstrated health benefits of their products.

Documents related to the Task Force's report:

• Press Release
• Full Report
• Backgrounder
• Task Force Members
• Summary of Recent Dietary Supplement Enforcement Actions
• Guidance Document: Interim Procedures for Qualified Health Claims in the Labeling of Conventional Human Food and Human Dietary Supplements
• Guidance Document: Interim Evidence-based Ranking System for Scientific Data
• Notice of Availability of Guidance Document

Other Initiative Activities

In addition to the task force's activities, the initiative on Better Health Information for Better Nutrition includes two related actions:

Guidance on Qualified Health Claims for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements

• Federal Register Notice of Availability on the FDA Guidance on Qualified Health Claims, December 17, 2002, Docket Number 02D-0515
• Guidance for the Industry: Qualified Health Claims in the Labeling of Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements
• List of Currently Authorized "Qualified" Claims for Dietary Supplements, December 17, 2002

Strong Enforcement of Dietary Supplement Rules

• Dietary Supplement Enforcement Report: Executive Summary
• Dietary Supplement Enforcement Report
• Complaint of Forfeiture re: EverCLR

Background on the Initiative

• FDA's Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition Initiative (white paper)
• FDA Press Release (December 18, 2002)
• Stakeholder Letter from FDA Commissioner McClellan (January 9, 2003)
• Stakeholder Letter from Joseph A. Levitt, Director of FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (January 15, 2003)
• Interview with Dr. McClellan, FDA Consumer March-April 2003