What foods are considered to be healthy? Our thinking can be outmoded.

What foods are considered to be healthy? Our thinking can be outmoded.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled a new proposal on Wednesday that would change the standards by which the agency deems packaged foods "healthy," aiming to modernize how the agency handles nutritional information and reduce diet-related illnesses burden.

Currently, about 5 percent of packaged food is labeled "healthy," according to the agency . Defined in 1994, the label allows food manufacturers to add a "healthy" label to their products, as long as the product is low in total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and contains at least one or more of the following nutrients 10% of the daily value for: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein or dietary fiber. (Seafood, game, and fresh fruits and vegetables have slightly different standards.) In 2016, the FDA updated its guidance to allow some foods to contain more total fat and include some foods that provide at least 10 percent of the daily value for vitamin D or potassium. food.

Crucially, the existing definition does not place a limit on added sugars—an omission the FDA believes is inconsistent with today's nutritional science.

"The old rules are really outdated -- you can throw any food that meets nutritional standards and label it healthy," says Cardiology at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutritional Science and Policy in Boston. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an expert and professor of nutrition, said. "This time it's a major step forward."

The proposed rule, announced by the agency at Wednesday's "Hunger, Nutrition and Health" White House conference , introduces new limits on added sugar -- generally no more than 2.5 grams per serving, though that may vary by food. It also limits sodium to no more than 230 milligrams per serving and sets limits for saturated fat, which likewise varies by food, the FDA said.

Under the new rules, for example, a six-ounce serving of yogurt would not qualify as "healthy" if it contained more than 2.5 grams, or 5 percent of the daily value, of added sugar; A frozen meal of salmon, green beans and brown rice would not qualify as "healthy" if it contains more than 4 grams of saturated fat.

The new definition aims to encourage healthy eating by prioritizing a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy products, proteins and certain oils, including vegetable oils. "Healthy" foods need to contain at least one of these food categories and be below the recommended limits for saturated fat, sodium and added sugar. Unprocessed whole fruits and vegetables will automatically meet the standard.

"These standards will make it impossible for a large number of foods in supermarkets to receive health labels," said Marion Nesser, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.

Many sugary cereals, granola bars, high-sugar yogurt and white bread may currently qualify as "healthy" under existing definitions, but would no longer qualify under the new rules.

Water, avocados, nuts and seeds, salmon, fatty fish and certain oils do not currently qualify as "healthy", but exceptions are available under the new guidelines.

The new definition of "healthy" emphasizes whether the food as a whole conforms to a healthy eating pattern, rather than just focusing on the individual nutrients of the food. Salmon, for example, isn't considered "healthy" under the current definition due to its high fat content, but under the new rules it would get a "healthy" exemption because it's rich in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and protein, And low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

"The FDA is really behind the times in developing stricter guidelines for these things," said Dr. Selvi Rajagopa, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and an ambassador for the American Council on Obesity Medicine. "When I read the new rules, I thought, well, this is good. I'm satisfied."

Typically, after the FDA proposes a rule, the agency seeks input from outside health experts and the public before the rule goes into effect, said Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director and chairman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He also said the process could take a year or more.

While he applauded some aspects of the new proposal, particularly the restriction on added sugar, Dr Lurie stressed that there was a fundamental problem with the label, which, like existing labels, was still voluntary. Consumers may mistakenly believe that any food without a "healthy" label is unhealthy. "It doesn't really play a role in that," he said. "It allows the industry to decide what to communicate to consumers, rather than delivering what consumers explicitly want."

Instead, Dr. Lurie and others in the nutrition field are pushing for mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling, which the FDA is currently considering.

In the meantime, the agency hopes the updated definitions will help consumers make better dietary decisions to help reduce the incidence of "diet-related chronic diseases" such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. According to the FDA, more than 80 percent of Americans don't get enough vegetables, fruits, and dairy in their diets.

"There's so much confusion about what's healthy and what's not," Dr. Rajagopa said. "The average consumer has absolutely no benchmark."