Nutritional Info Available for
Raw Fruits, Vegetables, Fish

Customers of D'Agostino Supermarkets in New York have taken to reading the writing on the wall--and at the counter, in the aisles, and just about everywhere else that store managers have posted nutrition information on raw produce and fish.

They're reading about the amounts of sodium, vitamins A and C, calcium and iron, and other nutrients in their favorite fruits and vegetables and fish. And, thanks to accompanying take-away brochures, they're learning how those foods can help them follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

"Customers are interested," acknowledges Mary Moore, director of public affairs for the company. "They're picking up the brochures; they're taking them home. And our managers tell us they see people reading the charts all the time."

They're not alone. Food shoppers across the country are helping themselves to the same type of information. It's all part of FDA's voluntary point-of-purchase nutrition information program for raw fruits, vegetables and fish, and D'Agostino Supermarket Inc. is one of many grocers participating.

It's well that these grocers are participating because under FDA guidelines, at least 60 percent of a nationwide sample of grocery stores surveyed in late 1992 must have been in compliance at that time. If they're not, FDA is required by law to make the program mandatory.

Grocers have some flexibility: They can choose from a variety of ways in which to convey nutrition information--poster, brochure, leaflet, notebook, or stickers--as long as those materials are available in the appropriate food department.

They're required to provide nutrition information only for the 20 most frequently eaten raw fruits, vegetables and fish. And, they have to provide information only on calories and eight nutrients.

However, guidelines for voluntary labeling of raw produce and fish will be revised this year to make them more consistent with mandatory nutrition labeling requirements.

Most Common Fruits, Vegetables and Fish Sold Raw:

Top 20 Fruits	Top 20 Vegetables	Top 20 Fish
banana	potato	shrimp
apple	iceberg lettuce	cod
watermelon	tomato	pollock
orange	onion	catfish
cantaloupe	carrot	scallop
grape	celery	Atlantic/coho salmon
grapefruit	sweet corn	flounder
strawberry	broccoli	sole
peach	green cabbage	oyster
pear	cucumber	orange roughy
nectarine	bell pepper	Atlantic/Pacific and jack mackerel
honeydew melon	cauliflower	ocean perch
plum	leaf lettuce	rockfish
avocado	sweet potato	whiting
lemon	mushroom	clam
pineapple	green onion	haddock
tangerine	green (snap) bean	blue crab
sweet cherry	radish	rainbow trout
kiwi fruit	summer squash	halibut
lime	asparagus	lobster

Setting Standards

FDA established the current guidelines for voluntary nutrition information in November 1991, in accordance with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. Although the law mandates nutrition labeling for almost all processed foods, it allows voluntary point-of-purchase nutrition information for raw fruits, vegetables and fish--as long as a sufficient number of retailers participate.

According to Jean Pennington, Ph.D., a registered dietitian and associate director of dietary surveillance in FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the program is intended to give retailers flexibility while ensuring that as many consumers as possible have access to consistent, reliable information.

Offering in-store nutrition information on these types of foods isn't new, she noted. Many grocers have been doing it on their own for years.

For example, almost 10 years ago, Schnuck Markets Inc., a 60-store grocery chain headquartered in St. Louis, began offering customers its Nutri Guide booklet--which lists calorie, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and fiber content of nearly 2,500 in-store foods, including perishable items.

And Giant Foods Inc., a Washington, D.C., area retail chain headquartered in Landover, Md., has been selling its Eat for Health Food Guide since the 1980s. This guide, too, provides nutrition information on thousands of store products, including fresh fruits and vegetables and raw fish.

What is new is that, for the first time, consumers at grocery stores across the country will have access to the same basic nutrition information. "We're aiming for consistency here," Pennington said. "From store to store and from state to state."

What Shoppers Will See

That's why the program, although voluntary, carries some mandatory components. Chief among them is the information that must be provided.

To meet the FDA guidelines, point-of-purchase nutrition information for raw fruits, vegetables and fish must include the following:

• name of the fruit, vegetable or fish that has been identified by FDA as being one of the 20 most commonly eaten in the United States
• serving size
• calories per serving
• amount of protein, total carbohydrates, total fat, and sodium per serving
• percent of the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances for iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C per serving.

Declaring the percent of U.S. RDAs for thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and protein, and the amounts of complex carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, saturated fat, and cholesterol is optional.

The serving size, determined by FDA, is defined as that portion of food "customarily consumed per eating occasion."

For raw produce, the serving size is often an individual unit (for example, one medium orange or two stalks of celery), or a fraction of a unit (for example, one-sixth of a medium head of lettuce)--whichever is most appropriate for the product.

For fish, the serving size is a 3-ounce, or 85-gram, cooked weight--without added fat or seasoning.

According to Pennington, using a cooked weight is a departure from usual FDA practice, which is to require food labels to state a serving size based on a measurement of the food as purchased. In the case of raw fish, however, FDA officials feared that the word "raw" on the label might lead some consumers to conclude that eating raw fish is OK, when in fact it generally is not.

"We certainly don't want to suggest that eating raw fish is a safe thing to do," she said.

While some types of shellfish have been customarily eaten raw, and sushi and sushimi are considered by some to be raw fish delicacies, there are dangers of food-borne illness from eating raw fish. In particular, people with liver diseases, certain gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes mellitus, or weakened immune systems are advised not to eat raw molluscan shellfish, such as oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops. And sushi and sushimi must be commercially frozen to kill any parasites.

Presenting Nutrition Information

Equally important as the type of information is the manner in which it is conveyed. Unlike processed, prepackaged food, raw produce and fish do not lend themselves well to individual labeling.

So FDA is allowing retailers to display nutrition information on large placards or to list it in consumer pamphlets or brochures--provided the information is in the appropriate food department for easy consumer access. If they want, retailers may place nutrition information on individual food wrappers or, when appropriate, on stickers affixed to the outside of a food (for example, bananas).

One trade organization, the Food Marketing Institute, is making the job easier for retailers. It offers brochures, charts and posters that contain all the necessary information. The materials were developed as part of the Nutri-Facts Program, a point-of-purchase nutrition information project begun in 1985 and now sponsored by FMI and nine other industry trade groups. (See inside back covers of the May 1992 through November 1992 FDA Consumer.)

Live demonstrations, and videotapes and other electronic means also may be used to convey nutrition information, but only as adjuncts to the print pieces. In FDA's view, non-print media are less likely than print media to be dependably available. Breakdown of videotape players, for example, may make the information unavailable for any length of time.

Other means of conveying nutrition information for these foods may exist, and, according to Pennington, FDA would like to see retailers and others identify them.

"We encourage retailers to experiment in finding ways that best convey nutrition information to consumers," she said. "And we hope that they share their findings with us."

Checking for Compliance

FDA plans to keep tabs on how well food retailers comply with the voluntary guidelines. Under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, the program can remain voluntary only as long as there is "substantial compliance."

FDA defines "substantial" as at least 60 percent of a nationwide representative sample of grocery stores. Grocers are considered in compliance if at least 90 percent of the 20 most commonly eaten raw fish and at least 90 percent of the 40 most commonly eaten types of raw produce sold in their stores are properly labeled. Thus, retailers have to provide nutrition information for only those most commonly eaten fruits, vegetables and fish that they sell in their stores.

FDA will check compliance by surveying every two years a sample of 2,000 U.S. food stores that sell produce or raw fish. Results of the first survey, which began in late 1992, will be issued in an FDA report due to Congress in May 1993.

If substantial compliance is found, the program will continue on a voluntary basis. But if FDA determines that compliance is not substantial, it will issue new regulations mandating point-of-purchase nutrition information for raw fruits, vegetables and fish.

In addition, at least every two years, FDA will revise and publish in the Federal Register nutrition labeling data for the 20 most frequently eaten raw fruits, vegetables and fish.

At the same time, it will conduct a survey of food retailers and issue a report to Congress on the status of the voluntary program.

At least one food retailer hopes to be part of those proceedings--D'Agostino Supermarkets, where, according to spokeswoman Moore, voluntary in-store nutrition information programs are in place in all 25 of its chain stores.

"I certainly hope [FDA comes] to D'Agostino," she said. "Because we're more than ready."

Paula Kurtzweil is a member of FDA's public affairs staff.

A Serving of Nutrition Info at the Meat Counter

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has established a voluntary nutrition information program for 45 of the best-selling cuts of raw meat and poultry. Similar to FDA's voluntary point-of-purchase nutrition information program for raw fish and produce, FSIS' program calls for "significant" compliance by grocers. If significant participation is not found, FSIS will consider making the program mandatory.

FSIS' guidelines, which were issued in January 1993, go into effect July 6, 1994, although some grocery stores may start offering the information sooner. FSIS will check for compliance every two years, beginning in May 1995.

Like FDA's program, FSIS' voluntary program targets a select group of foods--major cuts of raw single-ingredient meat and poultry products. And, like FDA's, FSIS' program allows nutrition information to be presented on posters, brochures and other point-of-purchase materials--as long as they are near the food. Information also can be provided on the package label.

To meet FSIS guidelines, point-of-purchase nutrition information for raw meats and poultry must include the following:

• name of the meat or poultry cut
• serving size based on raw or cooked weight
• calories per serving
• calories from total fat per serving
• amount per serving--by weight and by percentage of Daily Value--for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, and dietary fiber
• amount by weight of sugars and protein
• percentage of Daily Values per serving for vitamins A and C, and calcium and iron

• servings per package or container
• calories from saturated fat per serving
• amount per serving for stearic acid, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, potassium, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, sugar alcohol, and other carbohydate (the difference between total carbohydrate and the sum of dietary fiber, sugars, and sugar alcohol, if declared)
• percentage of Daily Values per serving for other essential vitamins and minerals
• lists of daily values for selected nutrients for 2,000- and 2,500-calorie daily diets.

Major meat and poultry cuts are:

Beef
chuck blade roast
loin top loin steak
rib roast large end
round eye round steak
round top round steak
round tip roast
chuck arm pot roast
loin sirloin steak
round bottom round steak
brisket
rib steak small end
loin tenderloin steak
regular ground
extra lean ground

Pork
loin chop
loin country style ribs
loin top loin chop boneless
loin rib chop
spareribs
loin tenderloin
loin sirloin roast
shoulder blade steak
loin top roast boneless
ground

Lamb
shank
shoulder arm chop
shoulder blade chop
rib roast
loin chop
leg

Veal
shoulder arm steak
shoulder blade steak
rib roast
loin chop
cutlets

Chicken and Turkey
whole*
breast
wing
drumstick
thigh

*without neck and giblets. Separate nutrient panels for white and dark turkey are optional.

--P.K.