Consumers face a barrage of marketing terms, nutritional statements, picturesque scenes, and more every time they pick up a food package to make a purchasing decision. One word that should be fairly simple to interpret — “healthy” — will now have a more precise definition.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule detailing criteria that food and beverage manufacturers must meet to use the voluntary label claim of “healthy” on their products. The previous standard was set in 1994, and nutrition experts have emphasized how much science and our diets have changed in the last 30 years.
The new rule will take effect in the next two months, but food manufacturers have until February 2028 to change their labels if they want to use the “healthy” claim. To bear the label, a food must contain a certain amount of a food group recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For dairy, this is 2/3-cup equivalent of fat-free or low-fat dairy.
A “healthy” food must also supply no more than 10% of the daily value of sodium and saturated fat and no more than 5% of daily added sugar. This means a dairy product can have no more than 230 milligrams of sodium, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 2.5 grams of added sugar.
Most cheeses will not meet that sodium limit, dairy groups have said, and sweetened yogurts will often not meet the added sugar limit. While the rule is intended to help shoppers choose foods that fall in line with the healthy eating patterns outlined in the Dietary Guidelines, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) called the ruling “narrow” and noted that many nutritious dairy foods will not qualify for the label.
The label remains voluntary; it is a marketing strategy food companies may choose to use. Some researchers have supported the ruling as a vast upgrade from the 1994 version, while many food groups also believe the new standards are too restrictive despite years of improvements by food manufacturers to provide healthier options.
Chronic disease remains an area of concern for national food policy leaders, as was evidenced in the release of the scientific report for the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans that will be published this year. According to the FDA, more than 75% of Americans have diets low in dairy, fruit, and vegetables. Nearly 90% consume excess sodium, 80% consume more saturated fat than is recommended, and over 60% consume excess added sugar.
