Smart Choices Program to Stop Labeling Food

Date: 10.27.2009 | Category: News Feed

by FarmPlate

The Smart Choices Program stated it will postpone active operations after federal regulators announced they would review the criteria behind the Smart Choices label.

Launched in August 2009 and funded by food industry leaders, the Smart Choices Program permits manufacturers to label their products as “healthy” with a bright green checkmark on the packaging.

In an effort to prevent misleading nutritional labels, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg announced on Oct. 20 that the FDA will develop standardized criteria for front-of-package labeling. Hamburg noted that some of the products labeled “Smart Choices” were actually 50 percent sugar, reports the Chicago Tribune. Sugary cereals including Fruit Loops and Cocoa Krispies have the Smart Choices seal of approval.

Three days after the FDA’s announcement, the Smart Choices Program stated in a press release that they will halt production and “welcome the opportunity to collaborate on front-of-package labeling with the FDA.”

Mike Hughes, the chairman of the Smart Choices Program stood behind the program’s value, explaining that the program’s criteria are “based on sound, consensus science.”

Hughes added, “But with the FDA’s announcement this week that they will be addressing both on front-of- package and on-shelf systems, and that uniform criteria may follow, it is more appropriate to postpone active operations and channel our information and learnings to the agency to support their initiative.”

National News

Oct. 21: President Obama has signed legislation that will provide struggling dairy farmers with $350 million in aid. Senate Press Release

Regional News

Oct. 20: American Flatbread founders and local food enthusiasts Paul Sayler and Rob Downey plan to open a gastropub in Burlington, Vermont. Seven Days

Oct. 22: A new branch of the Vermont Foodbank opened in Brattleboro. The food bank will be a part of the “gleaning project,” an initiative where volunteers collect leftover produce from local farms for distribution by the food bank. Brattleboro Reformer

Oct. 23: Morrisville Vermont’s Rock Art Brewery (makers of Vermonster), has settled a trademark dispute with Hansen Beverage Co., the producer of Monster energy drinks. Hansen Beverage Co.’s request to stop Rock Art Brewery from marketing Vermonster beer was denied. Associated Press

Oct. 26: In Woodstock, Vermont, community members are attempting to raise $1.5 million to purchase a farm that will otherwise become a lamb slaughterhouse. Opponents of the slaughterhouse hope to turn the farm into a sustainable dairy farm and educational facility. Rutland Herald

Oct. 27: New York and Vermont state officials announced free ferry and bus service to help families and farmers struggling with last week’s closure of the Lake Champlain Bridge at Crown Point. The sudden closure has crippled transportation to and from local farms and stores, including the Kayhart Dairy. North Country Public Radio

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