The FDA is testing prototypes for a new front-of-pack symbol that would denote when a food or beverage can be considered “healthy.”
The FDA announced in the Federal Register that it is soliciting comments on a number of such proposed symbols. The designs, which all bear the words “FDA” and “Healthy,” would be available to marketers on a voluntary basis to put on products that meet FDA standards to be called “healthy.”
The FDA plans to conduct a survey and an experimental study to gauge consumer reactions to the proposed symbols. Interested parties will have 30 days to comment at this link.
This FDA action is separate from its efforts to redefine its definition of what’s “healthy,” an initiative that has been going on for years. In the Federal Register notice, the agency noted that “our research on the symbol is not dependent on specific criteria for ‘healthy’” and therefore “we do not need to wait until we have a final, updated regulatory definition.”