The Food and Nutrition Information Center is a part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, that sets the standards and disseminates information to consumers, medical professionals, educators and other government agencies. Information is gathered from a variety of departments within the FDA. Nutritional information provided by the government-sponsored agencies includes childhood nutrition, nutritional guidelines, food safety, food recalls and labeling procedures.
History
The Food and Nutrition Information Center was started in 1971 by two nutritionists who saw the need to deliver information about the FDA nutritional standards as they were developed. The center started as a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Library. In 1977, the center became a permanent fixture in the library's services and continues to gather and compile the nutritional standards and make them available for the public.
Features
The FDA develops guidelines that direct the research of nutritional information. According to the "Journal of Nutrition," the government agency investigates claims made by food manufacturers and food growers to determine the efficacy of their claims. The guidelines are based on generally accepted scientific evidence and include an evidence-based ranking system. The process of approving or disallowing nutritional claims is multifaceted.
Function
The FDA considers the medical research available on a nutritional subject that includes double-blind human tests that have been extensively reviewed. The research must include information about the population on which the study was made, the quality of the study and the potential bias of the researchers. The nutritional standards set by the FDA are intended to protect consumers from potential health risks and to promote good health.
Considerations
Food manufacturers, researchers and consumer advocates often lobby the FDA to set various guidelines and approve or warn consumers of health risks. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, the FDA finally began requiring food manufacturers to identify amounts of trans fats in their products after intense lobbying efforts by consumer and health advocacy groups. The groups presented 50 years of research on the dangers of trans fats to the FDA to get it to change dietary standards and how they are reported.
Benefits
In addition to the vast amount of nutritional information available on the FDA's numerous websites, a benefit for consumers of the nation's health standards is mandatory food labels. Standard labels for packaged food are required on all products. In addition to various components of the labels, the FDA requires manufacturers to list the percentage of nutrients the product delivers as compared to the FDA nutritional standards or daily-recommended values.
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