Washington , D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) issued the following statement on the announcement by the Food and Drug Administration about the agency’s approach to “front of package” (FOP) labeling.

“I am very encouraged by FDA’s commitment to proceed with enforcement actions in cases where front-of-package labeling makes unauthorized nutrient content claims. I commend the agency for proposing to work with the food industry, nutrition scientists, consumer groups and the Institute of Medicine to develop an optimal, common approach to nutrition-related labeling.

“The recent developments involving private parties creating symbols for food labeling are very troubling because these symbols falsely claim that foods are healthy according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Based on the types of products that have been designated as ‘healthy,’ it would seem that these FOP systems or supermarket shelf-facings are nothing more than a marketing gimmick, and are not providing useful or accurate information to consumers about nutritious foods. Clearly something is wrong when foods such as Froot Loops cereal, Cookie Crisp cereal, and Uncle Ben’s Instant Rice are designated as ‘healthy’ by these labeling systems.”

“FDA’s effort to develop a proposed regulation that would provide standardized FOP nutrition labeling based on science-based criteria also should be commended. The proliferation of these labeling systems, along with their divergent approaches and criteria, has been very confusing to consumers. This highlights the need for a common approach that can be trusted to provide accurate information about the nutritional quality of a food product.

“I will work closely with FDA to ensure that the agency implements a standardized food labeling system using a common set of mandatory nutritional criteria that are based on recommendations by the Institutes of Medicine.”