McClellan calls for 'better' nutrition label
calls on health professionals and the food industry to tackle the
key question - how to communicate the right information to the
consumer?
Speaking to the Harvard School of Public Health this week, Mark McClellan, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, urged scientists and advisers "to do more". Although the body of health knowledge is growing in government and science circles it is not reaching the consumer effectively.
"From the standpoint of government, our current advice to the public, our public policies to reduce obesity, just haven't been effective enough," said McClellan.
He challenged the food industry to figure out how to make healthier diets "more appealing and attractive to Americans" and to improve nutrition information.
McClellan's comments come in the same week that US food giant Kraft announced a new health-driven agenda with the launch of a cap on single size servings, the introduction of nutrition labelling for all products, and the creation an advisory nutrition council for the company.
In a bid to stem the growing tide of obesity in western and developing countries, during discussions last month in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organisation (WHO) encouraged the food industry to take a pivotal role in tackling the obesity problem. Kraft is one of the first global food companies to announce a health agenda following the talks.
In McClellan's eyes, the key to bridging the knowledge gap is innovation. He cited the second generation of genetically modified foods as holding the potential to provide citizens with a healthier diet.
"Foods might even be designed with the specific genetic profiles of different categories of people in mind. People particularly susceptible to cholesterol might choose to buy avocadoes grown to be low in saturated fats," said McClellan.
Research into the brave new world of nutrigenomics could also provide the answer to the nation's dietary problems. This growing field is investigating how to combine insights from the study of human genes to the understanding of how dietary choices affect our health.
By adjusting nutrient composition in a person's diet according to genetic profiles, gene-based nutrition planning could one day play a significant role in preventing chronic disease, said the Commissioner.
Turning to the 'bete-noir' of consumer associations - trans-fats - McClellan feels that the food industry could do more to provide information, including better guidance about the recommended consumption of trans fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol.
"There needs to be better, clearer information on nutrition labels connecting an individual food product to a consumer's overall diet," he said.
McClellan envisages a coding system on foods or key food ingredients that would place them, based on a reasonable portion measure, into a nutritional category for a desirable diet. Some of these might be recommended to be used sparingly, and others more frequently, he said.
Closing his speech, the Commissioner called on the food industry to come up with its "best ideas" to stem the rise in obesity. The public health challenges are great, but we have some great opportunities to find more effective ways to combat obesity, he concluded.
