Food & Nutrition

USDA FNS Invests to Support School Meal Programs 

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced an investment of $26 million in grant funding to support the implementation of the agency’s updated school nutrition standards following the release of the April 2024 final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. USDA announced the first round of grant awards under the agency’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, an investment of $10 million in food service equipment assistance grants, and opened applications for USDA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Team Nutrition Training Grants and FY24 Behind the Tray-Food Science for School Meals food safety training opportunity to support schools meet the future implementation of the updated school nutrition standards and promote collaboration between schools, food producers, and suppliers. USDA will not begin implementation of the updated school nutrition standards until school year 2025-26 and will use a phased-in approach thereafter.

Study Examines Potential Consumer Response to FDA-Proposed Healthy Symbol

A study published in Heliyon examined consumer responses to FDA's proposed updates to the definition of the nutrient content claim “healthy” and explored the potential for the label to increase consumers' ability to correctly identify a food product that met the FDA's criteria for a healthy symbol. The study found that consumers generally support the implementation of a “healthy” symbol and that limits on added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats should be included in the agency’s “healthy” definition. However, researchers found that over 30% of consumers did not identify a food product as healthy even when it displayed a “healthy” symbol, and 53% of participants identified the product too high in added sugars as “healthy.” The results suggest that a “healthy” symbol may be more impactful in informing consumers that some foods are not as healthy as perceived.

Study Examines Impact of Nutri-Score on Food Product Composition in France

A study published in European Review of Agricultural Economics examined the effect of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling and the changes in food product composition and availability on the market following the adoption of Nutri-Score in France in 2017. Researchers found that packaged food products received improved Nutri-Score ratings based on products’ nutritional value after the adoption of the FOP nutrition labeling scheme, citing reductions in sugar and sodium content and increases in protein and fiber content across several product categories sold in France. The study suggests that manufacturers’ reformulation of food products following Nutri-Score’s adoption may promote greater purchase intentions for healthier products. 

Food Safety

FDA Publishes Update on Post-Market Assessment of Tara Flour

FDA announced that the agency’s determination of tara flour in human food does not meet the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) standard and is an unapproved food additive. FDA’s evaluation of tara flour indicated that there is not enough data on the use of tara flour in food, or history of its safe use to consider it GRAS. The agency published its assessment of the ingredient in a memo published in FDA’s post-market determination public inventory. FDA affirmed that tara flour is not being developed domestically or that there are any products containing tara flour that are currently being manufactured in the U.S. The announcement supports the agency’s commitment to increase the transparency of FDA’s assessment of ingredients and enhance the food chemical safety of the food supply.

Congress Introduces Baby Food Safety Act of 2024 

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) introduced the Baby Food Safety Act of 2024. The bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, would require FDA to enforce established limits on heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, in commercial infant and toddler food. The legislation would also establish requirements for food manufacturer sampling, testing, and recordkeeping for contaminants in imported and domestic processed food, and require FDA to initiate a study on foreign and domestic inspections. The Baby Food Safety Act of 2024 follows that of similar legislation passed in Maryland, known as Rudy’s Law, that would require manufacturers of baby food to test products for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury beginning January 1, 2025. 

Alabama Passes Bill to Prohibit Cell-Cultured Food Products in the State 

Alabama signed into law a bill that will prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of food products made from cell-cultured animal cells beginning October 1, 2024. The legislation makes Alabama the second state in the U.S. to ban cell-cultured food products from the state’s food supply, following the recent passing of Florida’s first-in-the-nation bill to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of cell-cultured meat earlier this month. These state-level actions come in the wake of regulatory approvals granted to cultivated meat companies Upside Foods and Good Meat by USDA and FDA in July 2023, permitting the sale of cell-cultivated chicken products in the U.S.

Agriculture

USDA Invests to Expand Organic Markets Through New Programs and Partnerships

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced an investment of approximately $24.8 million in grant funding across 23 projects through the agency’s Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) program. The awarded projects will support the development of improved markets for domestic organic products, provide training to producers transitioning to organic production, and ease the financial burden of obtaining organic certification. The investment builds on USDA’s approach to supporting local and regional food systems, expanding access to markets to more producers, and increasing the affordable food supply while promoting climate-smart agriculture and ensuring equity for agricultural producers.

Global

WHO Publishes Report Warning High Sodium Consumption in the European Region

The World Health Organization (WHO) published the report, Action on Salt and Hypertension: Reducing Cardiovascular Disease Burden in the WHO European Region, to promote an integrated approach to reduce salt intake and better control hypertension levels in the European Region. The report highlights that cardiovascular diseases are the predominant cause of disability and premature death in the European Region, as 52 of 53 countries in the region have an average daily salt intake above the WHO-recommended maximum level of 5g per day. WHO recommends that regulating the amount of salt in processed foods has the potential to have a positive impact on people’s health, recommending that countries establish legal limits on the amount of salt in manufactured foods and restaurants, introduce mandatory front-of-pack labels, and promote public awareness campaigns to support behavior change to reduce salt consumption in the population.

Fun Fact: More than 100 billion bananas are consumed globally each year.