Public comments of the National Consumers League FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy – National Consumers League
August 31, 2018
Docket Number: FDA-2018-N-2381
Dockets and Management Staff (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Executive Summary
The National Consumers League (NCL) commends the FDA for convening a public meeting on the Multi-Year Comprehensive Nutrition Innovation Strategy. The July 26, 2018 meeting was well-attended by both food industry leaders and consumer groups, serving as an informative first conversation about modernizing FDA processes in regulating production innovation and appropriate labeling.
At the meeting, NCL’s Food and Nutrition Policy Fellow, Haley Swartz, MPP, spoke about the League’s 100-year history in advocating for a safe, nutritious, and accurately represented food marketplace. NCL has been an active participant in food labeling regulation and litigation for over three decades. We have long worked with the FDA to ensure transparency on food labels, including mislabeling on:
- “Fresh” canned tomatoes and pasta sauce (2009);
- Artificially sweetened dried cranberries in cranberry juice (2009); and
- Watered-down lemon juice (2012).
We work tirelessly alongside our colleagues in the National Alliance for Nutrition and Physical Activity to ensure that blatant forms of false food advertising are eliminated from the food marketplace. We also must thank the FDA for its continual willingness to consider innovative regulatory actions. As we approach new challenges in the context of changing consumer demands and rapidly evolving technology, we are thrilled to actively participate in dialogues between the food industry, regulators, and consumers.
In this document, we delve deeper into the issues Swartz raised in her speech. We list both our enthusiasm and concerns for several specific components of the Strategy.
