FROM SNE

I President's Message I Myron Johnsrud, Administrator of the

USDA Extension Service, is quoted as ad­vising each of us to "Be a student of history and a creator of the future." His address at the National Extension Leadership De­velopment Program (June 1991) entitled "Effective Leadership: Now and in the Future" contained other advice that is most appropriate for the Society of Nutri­tion Education as we chart our future course. As Johnsrud stated, "There is much to be learned from the past; put this wisdom to work in creating a new vision of the future." Also, "Visions only get im­plemented when leaders and followers share the same view of what must be at the end of the effort."

It is my hope that this will be true of SNE as we commence work on our new strategic plan. The Strategic Planning Committee will be working diligently this year, consulting with divisions of our Soci­ety and various groups from among the members. At each of the last two annual meetings, focus groups have provided

thoughtful ideas and a wealth of informa­tion. We have also gleaned ideas from members and non-members through sur­veys and calls to the SNE office, as well as through the focus groups that the Execu­tive Director has organized in local affili­ates and from among SNE members around the country. The views and ideas of our international members will also add to the information we will use to create a new vision for SNE's future.

The leadership of SNE has taken some Significant risks during this past year. By the time you read this column, the first few vignettes developed by McDonald's and CBS with technical assistance from SNE members will have been aired on Saturday morning television. At the same time, you will be receiving a membership survey in the mail, and some of you will be selected on a random basis for an in­depth interview.

I hope it is clear that all of us in the leadership of your Society look forward to hearing from you and welcome your input.

I Public Policy Update I When was the last time you read the

Journal of Nutrition Education at the beach? That's exactly what Edward Bar­ron, Deputy Chief Counsel of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee did on his summer vacation. In fact, Senator Leahy may quote from the JNE Hunger Supplement during Senate floor statements, according to Ed. As the final days of the 102nd Congress race by, the hunger issue remains unfin­ished business. The Mickey Leland Child­hood Hunger Relief Act, while garnering corporate support for its passage, has failed to find an acceptable mechanism to finance the increases in food stamps.

Nutrition Education and Train­ing. By the time you read this column, election results will be final. The race be­ing settled, it's time to prepare for a new Congress and a new administration or a new term for the President. The Society has begun work on reauthorization of the

Nutrition Education and Training Pro­gram (NET) by convening a meeting be­tween representatives from key profes­sional groups interested in the NET program and key Congressional staff. The groups will recommend revisions to the program that will address, among other things, program coordination with Com­prehensive Health Education, state level staffing requirements, and integration of the program with all child nutrition pro­grams. Many of these ideas materialized during NET strategic planning confer­ences sponsored by USDA's Food and Nu­trition Service. Looking at FNS's new mis­sion statement, it's clear that the agency supports NET and will assist greatly in developing NET legislative language. "The mission of the Food and Nutrition Service is to safeguard the health and nu­tritional well-being of the nation through administration of nutrition education and domestic food assistance programs."

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However, I do believe that truly effective leaders must be risk-takers, if what SNE does in the future is to make a real differ­ence in the world. I know that there is much that we can learn from history, but we must not always look in the rear-view mirror, because if we do, we will not drive very far. Rather, let us steer straight ahead and create a future for SNE that all of our members will be excited about and others will want to become a part of.

The Society for Nutrition Education must position itself as the premier associa­tion linking the fields of nutrition, food, and education. If we do so, we can have a lasting impact on the lives of others, and the Society will be in a position to help its members meet the needs of the people they serve.

Changes challenge both private and public professional organizations alike. Our Society needs to be flexible, proactive, and visionary to accomplish more with less. We can get started on these chal­lenges by trying new ideas, testing new strategies, and capitalizing on our diver­sity.

Jennifer E. L. Anderson, Ph.D., R.D. SNE President, 1992-93

Food Labeling. The final version of the new FDA/USDA food label regulations will have emerged by early November. Warnings to date foretell a volume of read­ing material larger than the 2,000 pages of proposals. While the government authors go on vacation, nutrition educators every­where will pore over the new rules, trying to find a simple way to explain the new dictums to the public.

At the end of August, the USDA pro­posed two additional possibilities for the label format. One builds on the current label and adds the USDA/FDA dietary guidelines at the bottom. The other pro­posed format lists the Daily Reference Values (DRV) or Recommended Daily In­take (RDI) for each nutrient in a range that reflects the nutrient needs across all population groups. For example, the RDI for calories would be listed as "1600 to 2800." SNE believes these two approaches would be intrinsically confusing, to say nothing of how consumers would interpret information from two separate formats, one for meat and poultry products and the other for all other packaged goods. SNE submitted comments urging USDA to har-

280 FROM SNE

monize its format with FDA. SNE op­posed both of USDA's proposed formats, since neither had been consumer tested. SNE strongly supported the use of single Daily Reference Values or Recommended Daily Intake value on the labels.

The need for food labeling education was once again stressed in SNE's com­ments. To foster private and public collab­orations on food labeling education, the FDA and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of USDA sponsored a National Exchange for Food Labeling Education in early September. Cheryl Achterberg, Laura Sims and Susan Welch, three SNE members, provided research-based advice on how to educate consumers on the use of the food label. To solicit, catalog and distribute food labeling education infor­mation, the FDA/USDA Food Labeling Education Information Center will be op­erated through the National Agricultural Library, Food and Nutrition Information Center. If you have or are developing la­beling education programs or if you want to know what is being created, please call Gina McNeal, 301-504-5719.

Nutrition Labeling of Dietary Supple­ments. Efforts of the dietary supple­ment industry convinced Senator Hatch to introduce the Health Freedom Act, which

would exempt dietary supplements from the health claims requirements of the Nu­trition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. This bill makes it more difficult for FDA to takt;: enforcement action against dangerous or misleadingly labeled supple­ments. Congress passed NLEA, in part, to curb misleading health claims by members of the food and supplement industries. The NLEA does not restrict legitimate health claims. The Act simply sets a stan­dard whereby health claims can be made only if significant scientific agreement ex­ists. The Health Freedom Act would allow the supplement industry to make claims supported only by a "reasonable basis" that could consist solely of unpublished scientific studies. Under this type of dou­ble standard, consumers could be per­suaded that only supplements hold the so­lution to health problems. SNE has been working to assure that consumers are not misled by the adoption of such legislation and that NLEA applies equally to pack­aged goods and dietary supplements.

Food Biotechnology. On May 29, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the government's position on biotechnology-derived foods. Proposed rules would regulate genetically engi­neered foods on the same basis as other

SNE Comments on the FDA Proposed Nutrition Label Format Regulations

Comments prepared by Fran Cronin, Ph.D. and Cheryl Achterberg, Ph.D., with the assistance of SNE Food Labeling Task Force members Janet Tenney, Janet Witt, Pat Snyder, Laura Sims, and Kathleen McMahon.

Docket No. 91N-0162 Food Labeling: Fonnat for Nutrition Label

As the leading national professional associ­ation committed to linking nutrition, food, and education, the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) welcomes this opportu­nity to comment on the proposed nutrition label format.

SNE has long supported mandatory nu­trition labeling of all foods of significant nutritional value and prominently declar­ing the content of all food components of dietary importance. While this goal may be difficult to reach in a limited number of cases, e.g., small packages or in food service, efforts must be made to prOvide consumers with reliable nutrition informa­tion in an easily understood manner to em-

power them to make individual food choices. An appropriate label format must attract consumers while providing easily read and understood nutrition informa­tion.

Harmonization of USDA and FDA Fonnats

SNE is very concerned with certain state­ments in this proposed regulation that sug­gest USDA may be planning to propose a different format for food labeling than FDA [57 FR 32056]. SNE strongly op­poses use of different label formats by the two agencies because consumers would be extremely confused and educational ef­forts would be greatly handicapped. Re­gardless of whether FDA or USDA regu­lates a food product, all processed foods should have the same nutrition informa­tion presented in the same format, and use the same serving sizes and descriptors. Differences in label format will decrease the comprehensibility of the label by con­sumers (Adler, 1991).

foods, arguing that judgments should be made on the outcome, not the process, of the biotechnology-derived foods. If modi­fied foods contained an allergen, lost some of their original nutrients, or contained some toxin, FDA's proposal would require the same type of pre-market approval as the agency now uses in clearing new food additives. In the next few years, FDA esti­mates that food biotechnology will create nearly 800 different developments ranging from biopesticides to pest/disease resistant plants, and from vegetables with higher nutrient content to plants that can be pro­duced more effiCiently with less cost and spoilage. Our food supply is quickly chang­ing and consumers need help in compre­hending these changes. Some consumer groups are asking for product labeling and for regulation of modified foods as addi­tives subject to premarket approval. The European Community is preparing a di­rective on "novel foods," implementing new requirements that have trade implica­tions. With such potential changes in America's food supply, this complex public policy issue needs the careful study and attention of nutrition educators.

Nancy Chapman, Director SNE Office of Public Policy 1723 U Street, NW Washington, DC 20009

SNE strongly objects to the format (Appendix F) suggested by USDA. This format does not meet the requirements of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA). The NLEA amendments require that the information on the nutrition label be conveyed in a manner that enables con­sumers to understand its relative signifi­cance in the context of a total diet. USDA's proposed format is inadequate in meeting this goal. Most of the Dietary Guidelines are about foods. Consumers will have diffi­culty making a direct connection between the Dietary Guidelines and the other label information. Previous research on the Di­etary Guidelines verifies this conclusion from the consumer perspective (Achter­berg et al., 1989; Achterberg and Bradley, 1991; Trenkner and Achterberg, 1991).

Inclusion of the DRV on the Label

SNE agrees with FDA and strongly sup­ports the inclusion of the Daily Reference Value (DRV) on the label [57 FR 32070]. This satisfies the requirements of the 1990 National Labeling Education Act (NLEA). The NLEA amendments require that the information on the nutrition label be con­veyed in a manner that enables consumers to understand its relative Significance in the context of the total diet. SNE pre-