Health food industry will try to stop labeling reforms.

The health foods industry is running scared because of consumer protection requirements of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA). Health foods industry concerns are laid out in the lead article in Natural Food Merchandiser (Jan., 1992). An industry attorney refers to four new federal regulations that reinforce required truth in labeling as "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" for the health food, herbal and dietary supplement industries. Worrying them are that:

(1) Unfounded health claims could not be made for foods. People familiar with the confusion which ensued when the Reagan administration allowed health claims for foods will shout hallelujah for putting an end to such abuses. Claims will be limited to associations between calcium & osteoporosis; fats & heart disease; fats & cancer; and, sodium & hypertension. Because the links between some of these food factors and specific diseases are still open to question, many health experts believe that government endorsement of health claims which are based on statistical associations is unwise. They believe that such claims should be based upon sound public health science as is done …