Tag: FDA

Label Added Sugars, Urges Coalition of Health Organizations Such as the Environmental Working Group and the American Heart Association

Exciting news for those of us who monitor our sugar intake — and urge you to do so, too — for the sake of your health, weight, and moods!
A coalition of health organizations, including the Environmental Working Group, the American Association for Health Education, the American Heart Association, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Defeat Diabetes Foundation are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to clearly label added sugars on ingredients lists of packaged foods so that American shoopers find it easier to eat healthier.
“By showing ‘added sugars’ on the ingredients lists of foods, consumers will be better able to evaluate the foods they purchase,” the organizations wrote in a letter dated Feb. 23, 2012 to the Honorable Margaret Hamburg, M.D., FDA Commissioner.
“To ensure consumers have this important information, we feel that the term ‘added sugars’ should be listed as a single food ingredient with a paranthetical list of the specific ingredients that account for those sugars,” the letter contends.
The groups then go on to suggest that “added sugars should be listed by descending weight, in line with current regulations. The combined weight of the added sugars should be used to determine where added sugars rank on the food ingredients label.”
I cannot emphasize how great this would be!
Your life would be so much easier when you buy packaged foods. You’d find it easier to monitor your intake of sugar, which can cause you to age quickly, get heart disease, become depressed, and many other ailments. (You can read about sugar harms you in my first book, Sugar Shock.)
In short, if food labeling such as this went into effect, you wouldn’t be so easily deceived and duped by all those added sugars!
The welcome letter to the FDA Commissioner also cited the American Heart Association’s valuable national survey data that “overconsumption of added sugars contributes to obesity” and that the average American consumes 22.2 teaspoons of added sugars per day or the equivalent of 355 calories. (I believe for many, they consume far more than this.) The AHA recommends that women get only 100 daily calories from added sugars and men only 150 calories.
In addition, the letter states that while “a healthy, well-balanced diet contains naturally occurring sugars, the `empty calories’ from added sugars like high fructose corn syrup, sucrose and corn sweetener have a detrimental effect on our diets.”
Make sure to tell these organizations such as the Environmental Working Group, the American Heart Association, The American Association for Health Education, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and Corporate Accountability International how much you appreciate their hard work on behalf of your health.
Read the complete letter here.
Then go to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Facebook page and show your support for labeling added sugars.
And tell us what you think, too.

FDA Finds Fault With Diet Coke Plus’s “Misbranded” Label & Nutrition Claims

It’s a given that diet soda isn’t a healthy drink.
But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally woken up.
The governmental agency — which allows nutrient-lacking, potentially harmful diet drinks on the market in the first place — is now berating Coca-Cola’s new Diet Coke Plus because it’s “misbranded.”
The governmental agency, which posted a warning letter on its website, finds fault with the soda company’s use of the word “Plus” as part of its name and label. What’s more, Diet Coke Plus doesn’t meet the FDA’s criteria to make a nutrient content claim.
I generally don’t applaud FDA actions — after all, I’m not a fan of nutrient-lacking diet drinks containing aspartame, Splenda, etc. — but this time I’m behind the FDA for berating Diet Coke Plus for being marketed as “a good source of vitamins B3, B6, and B12 and the minerals zinc and magnesium.”

Stevia Approved for Use in Soft Drinks, Etc…. But How Safe & Natural Will It Be?

After years of only allowing it to be sold as an herbal supplement and deeming it unsafe for foods and drinks, the FDA changed its mind and approved the use of the naturally sweet herb Stevia in various beverages from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, as you can learn from NaturalNewscom, CBS and TreeHugger.
In other words, drinks sweetened from Reb A, derived from the stevia leaf, now have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
This FDA action, according to The New York Times, will allow Cargill to market Truvia from Coca-Cola and PureVia from PepsiCo — both products using rebiana, an extract from the stevia plant.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks the decision was rushed and does not take into account that it was inadequately tested for cancer and other potential health problems.