Smart Choices Program on Hold

WASHINGTONThe Smart Choices Program announced it will voluntarily postpone active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo at this time by either new or currently enrolled companies.

This move follows an announcement by FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, M.D. on Oct. 20, 2009 which said that the agency intends to develop standardized criteria on which future front-of-package nutrition or shelf labeling will be based. In a letter captioned, "Guidance for Industry" and posted on its Web site, FDA stated: "We want to work with the food industry - retailers and manufacturers alike - as well as nutrition and design experts and the Institute of Medicine, to develop an optimal, common approach to nutrition-related FOP ... that all Americans can trust and use to build better diets and improve their health."

"We welcome FDA's interest in developing uniform front-of-package and shelf-labeling criteria," said Mike Hughes, chair, Smart Choices Program and vice president for science and public policy at the Keystone Center. "The Smart Choices Program shares that exact goal, and was designed to provide a voluntary front-of-package labeling program that could promote informed food choices and help consumers construct healthier diets. We continue to believe the Smart Choices Program is an important step in the right direction."