The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working on revising the regulations related to the use of terms such as ‘healthy’ on food labels by manufacturers.
The FDA has completed collecting inputs on how it should define the term 'natural', following the dispute with KIND Bars.
The agency's guidelines will be reviewed again in the wake of growing research on nutrition, Quartz reported.
In March 2015, the FDA had issued a warning letter to KIND, after finding that the company did not meet the requirements to make a variety of claims on its products' labeling.
On 20 April 2016, the FDA had issued a closeout letter to KIND after a review of the corrective actions taken by the firm in response to the 2015 warning letter.
KIND had rectified certain FDA requirements issued in the warning letter, which included eliminating and amending certain nutrient content claims on product labels and labeling.
Following the evaluation, FDA concluded that KIND had addressed the violations mentioned in the warning letter satisfactorily.
FDA states on its website: "In our discussions with KIND, we understood the company's position as wanting to use "healthy and tasty" as part of its corporate philosophy, as opposed to using "healthy" in the context of a nutrient content claim. The FDA evaluates the label as a whole and has indicated that in this instance it does not object.
"Consumers want to make informed food choices and it is the FDA's responsibility to help them by ensuring labels provide accurate and reliable nutrition information.
"In light of evolving nutrition research, forthcoming Nutrition Facts Labeling final rules, and a citizen petition, we believe now is an opportune time to reevaluate regulations concerning nutrient content claims, generally, including the term "healthy." We plan to solicit public comment on these issues in the near future."
