Nutrition Labeling: FDA and USDA Need a Coordinated Assessment of Food Label Accuracy
RCED-95-19
Published: Dec 29, 1994. Publicly Released: Jan 09, 1995.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) new nutrition labeling regulations, focusing on: (1) the effect of the new regulations on the food industry's development and reporting of nutrient values; (2) the enforcement efforts FDA and FSIS have taken to help ensure the accuracy of food nutrition labels; and (3) FDA and FSIS plans for evaluating and improving the effectiveness of their nutrition labeling policies and procedures.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
---|---|---|
Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should develop a coordinated evaluation strategy that will provide for an overall assessment of the accuracy of the nutrition information provided on all food labels. |
Closed – Implemented
In February 1996, FSIS awarded a contract to analyze the nutrition labels on 300 food products. The contractor's report was due in late summer 1996. While the contractor is using a methodology developed by FDA, there is no plan to coordinate FSIS and FDA efforts.
|
Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should develop a coordinated evaluation strategy that will provide for an overall assessment of the accuracy of the nutrition information provided on all food labels. |
Closed – Implemented
In October 1994, FDA issued a report on analytical data from a statistically selected sample of 300 food product labels. While FSIS is using FDA's methodology in its food label analysis, there is no plan to coordinate FDA's and FSIS's efforts.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Consumer educationConsumer protectionFederal regulationsFood and drug lawFood industryFood inspectionInformation disclosureLabeling lawProduct safetySafety regulation