HHS NEWS

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


P97-47                        FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         Judith Foulke:      (202) 205-4144
Dec. 31, 1997                 
                              Consumer Inquiries  (800) 532-4440

FDA ANNOUNCES NAME CHANGES FOR LOWER-FAT MILKS AND FOLIC ACID FORTIFICATION FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS

The Food and Drug Administration today announced that starting January 1, 1998, lower-fat milk products must follow the same criteria as most other foods labeled "low fat." This means that such products as 2-percent milk, which contains about 5 grams of fat per serving, cannot be labeled "low fat" because the fat content is more than 3 grams per serving, the upper limit permitted in food products labeled "low fat."

Also starting January 1, manufacturers of enriched breads, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice and other grain products will be required to add the nutrient folic acid to their products -- a move to reduce the risk of neural tube birth defects in newborns. Folic acid, when consumed in adequate amounts by women before and during early pregnancy, reduces the risk of such birth defects as spina bifida, a common disabling birth condition resulting from failure of the spinal column to close.

"As the new year begins, these two new rules will help improve the health of all Americans. Milk is so important to good nutrition, and now consumers can fit it into low-fat diets as well," said Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Services. "And folic acid fortification of bakery products is one of the safest scientific approaches we know to protect the future of our children."

Whole milk normally contains 3.25 percent milkfat or 8 grams of fat per serving. (A serving is defined as 1 cup.) Milk labeled 1-percent milkfat contains 2.5 grams of fat per serving, and thus qualifies for the "low fat" claim, but 2-percent does not.

Standards of identity for lower-fat dairy products were adopted some time before the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA). In 1993, when regulations for NLEA went into effect, nutrient content claims, including "low fat," were defined. However, since standards of identity for lower-fat milk products were already in place using the same terms, milk products with standards were exempted from the new labeling rules.

Today's rule revokes the old standards of identity for lower-fat milk products. Now, fat claims on milk products will mean the same as they do for other foods.

Although two-percent milk, with its 5 grams of fat, may not be called "low fat," the product does qualify for a "reduced fat" claim. "Reduced fat" means that the fat content of the food has been reduced by at least 25 percent per serving compared to the full-fat food. Because whole milk contains 8 grams of fat, 2-percent milk with its 5 grams of fat has more than a 25 percent reduction in fat. "Light" may be used on milk whose fat has been reduced by 50 percent or more per serving, for example 4 grams of fat or about 1.5 percent milkfat.

"Nonfat," and "fat-free" are defined as less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. These terms and "skim" may be used on milk products that qualify.

Lower-fat dairy products may continue to show the percent of milk fat as long as the declaration is not false or misleading. For example, the percent-milk fat declaration cannot be more than twice the size of the name of the food. Lower-fat milk must also show a "Nutrition Facts" panel, as do most packaged food.

The renaming of lower-fat dairy products applies to 12 products. They are low fat milk, skim milk, low fat cottage cheese, sweetened condensed skimmed milk, low fat dry milk, evaporated skimmed milk, acidified low fat milk, cultured low fat milk, acidified skim milk, cultured skim milk, sour half-and-half, and acidified sour half-and-half. FDA has decided to defer action on claims for yogurt to allow the industry time to resolve nutritional and technical problems in the manufacture of low fat products.

The new rules giving consistency to claims for milkfat with other food products are based on petitions from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Milk Industry Foundation and the American Dairy Products Institute.

Rules for folic acid fortification of enriched bakery products stemmed from a Public Health Service recommendation in 1992 that all women of child-bearing age consume 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily to reduce their risk of giving birth to children with neural tube defects. As part of the Public Health Service strategy to achieve that goal, the FDA fortification rule is aimed at increasing folate intakes.

####

ATTENTION TV BROADCASTERS: Please use open caption for the hearing impaired.