The Food and Drug Administration will conduct consumer studies to find a regulated, voluntary front-of-package symbol that shows whether a product is "healthy." The FDA said this symbol will help consumers easily determine the nutritional content of a product as represented by the term's definition.
There will be two studies conducted by the FDA. The first will be an online survey of about 2,000 adult consumers focusing on clarity, relevance, and appeal of several symbols. The second will be an online study of about 5,000 adults testing their reactions and understanding of what a "healthy" symbol means on package mock-ups.
The FDA first put out a proposal for this idea last May and collected public and industry comments about the proposal. Many comments were supportive of the idea, with suggestions on modifications to the process or timing of the new symbols to be added to packaging. However, many suggested the actual term of ‘healthy’ should be defined first before the new packaging requirements were made. The FDA has been examining the issue of the definition of ‘healthy’ for many years but no formal definition has been released.
The FDA notes that when this study is completed and a front-of-package "healthy" symbol is approved, that symbol would represent whatever the agency has defined as nutritional requirements for that term. The new FDA Healthy symbol would not be required, but it may be a helpful tool for manufacturers who want to tout their products' nutritional quality.