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A Fresh Take on What "Healthy" Means on Food Packages

To help consumers build nutritious diets, the FDA updated the nutritional requirements a food must meet to use the claim "healthy" on the package.

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With so many food options out there, it is helpful to have information on food packages that can empower you to identify healthier choices.

More than 80% of people in the U.S. aren’t eating enough vegetables, fruit, dairy, and seafood, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. And most people consume too much saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. These dietary patterns can increase the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and overweight and obesity. Racial and ethnic minority groups, those with lower socioeconomic status, and those living in rural areas, and other underserved communities disproportionately experience these diet-related chronic diseases compared to the overall population.

To help consumers identify foods that are particularly useful in building healthy dietary patterns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated the definition of the “healthy” nutrient content claim, which includes criteria a food must meet to use the “healthy” claim on the package. The FDA also is exploring the development of a symbol to represent the claim “healthy” to make it easier to spot foods that can be the foundation of healthy eating patterns.

Updating the “Healthy” Definition on Food Packaging

The last time “healthy” was defined on packaging was in the 1990s. Based on the nutrition science and federal dietary guidelines at that time, the definition was solely focused on individual nutrients; for example, it included limits for saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and sodium and required a certain amount of beneficial nutrients like certain vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein.

Today, we have a greater understanding of dietary patterns and their effects on health, and we recognize that foods are made up of a variety of nutrients that work together as part of a healthy dietary pattern.

To be consistent with the latest nutrition science and federal dietary guidelines the updated definition of “healthy” requires that:

  • A food must contain a certain amount of a food group like fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, or dairy.
  • A food can’t contain too much saturated fat, sodium, or added sugars.

How the “Healthy” Claim Works

Placing a “healthy” claim on a food package is voluntary. If manufacturers choose to do it, their products must have the nutrient content required by the “healthy” definition. Manufacturers who choose to use the “healthy” claim can use the new criteria starting on February 25, 2025.

Here are some examples of what qualifies to use the “healthy” claim under the updated definition:

  • Nuts and seeds, olive oils, higher-fat fish, like salmon, and eggs would qualify as healthy because of their nutrient profile. They didn’t qualify under the previous definition.
  • Water. While water isn’t part of a food group, it is considered an optimal beverage by the Dietary Guidelines.

Here are some examples of what no longer qualifies to use the “healthy” claim under the updated definition:

  • Fortified white bread, highly sweetened yogurt, highly sweetened cereal.

For more details, please see Use of the Term Healthy on Food Labeling.

Making Healthier Food Choices

To make healthier food choices for yourself and your family, aim to eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy, and protein foods. Try to eat and drink more foods with lower amounts of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. 

You also can check the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods to get information on specific nutrients and compare food products. By looking at the percent Daily Value, abbreviated as the %DV, of the different nutrients you can choose foods that contain more of the nutrients you may want to get more of and less of nutrients you may want to limit.

Additional Resources

 

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