Statement of Ritva Butrum, Ph.D., American Institute for Cancer Research, on Proposed FDA Changes to Health Claims on Food Labels 7/11/2003
From: Glen Weldon of the American Institute for Cancer Research, 202-328-7744; web: http://www.aicr.org WASHINGTON, July 11 -- Following is a statement of of Ritva Butrum, Ph.D., vice president for research, American Institute for Cancer Research, on proposed FDA changes to health claims on food labels: "It is the opinion of the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) that the FDA's proposed loosening of regulations governing health claims made by food marketers and manufacturers represents a grave disservice to the American public. "AICR is an organization that is deeply involved with ongoing dietary research -- we fund science that focuses on how the foods we eat influence cancer risk and overall health, and we hear from an increasingly confused and increasingly frustrated public every day. "Yet scientific consensus builds slowly -- particularly when its subject is the myriad and ever-changing combination of foods, nutrients and phytochemicals found in the human diet. After many years and thousands of scientific studies, the international research community has reached agreement on a number of general principles about diet and health. The importance of diets high in a variety of plant foods and low in animal fats is one such principle. "But that unanimity was not achieved lightly. The mass of research took many years to build and involved a wide range of scientific studies that differed in design, scope and origin. Because the scientific study of diet and health is still in its infancy, however, the nature of dietary advice remains broad and expansive, not precise and specific. "But food manufacturers and marketers are not concerned with the overall human diet, they are concerned with their product line. They may tout promising but preliminary results with little regard for a wider context. We at AICR believe that the kind of highly specific -- and thus premature -- health claims made by food manufacturers under the proposed changes will only confuse the public. "We urge the FDA to reconsider its plans to loosen food label regulations." ------ The American Institute for Cancer Research is one of the nation's largest cancer charities. AICR supports research in cancer prevention and treatment at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S. The Institute has provided over $67 million in funding for cancer research. AICR also provides a wide range of education programs that help millions of Americans learn to make everyday changes for lower cancer risk. The AICR website is http://www.aicr.org |