NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--In recent times, low carbohydrate diets have ruled supreme for those looking to lose a few pounds or for diabetics watching insulin levels. Then, in late August, the Associated Press newswire ran a story suggesting that low-carb products were frauds. Today, the National Nutritional Foods Association's (NNFA) Coalition for Informative Carbohydrate Labeling addressed these concerns in a press release by explaining why such ingredients as glycerine and oligofructose were not carbohydrates and should not be labeled as such. In addition, NNFA is preparing a guidance document detailing labeling requirements that would show why a product was low carb while remaining truthful and non-misleading.
In a spate of letters that started being sent out in August 2000, HHS' John Foret (the director of the division of compliance and enforcement at the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements) told such companies as Twin Laboratories and Labrada Bodybuilding Nutrition that their products were misbranded because the products were labeled as "Low Carb" or "Low Carbohydrate." According to the letters, these labels bore unauthorized nutrient content claims. In addition, HHS lambasted companies such as Twinlab and EAS for bearing the statements "Glycerine is not a carbohydrate but has a caloric value of 4.32 per gram" and "Glycerine and oligofructose are not included as carbohydrates," respectively. Foret wrote that Glycerine is a carbohydrate and must be included as such on the nutrient panel.
NNFA's (www.nnfa.org) coalition, which consists of such companies as Weider, EAS, Atkins and Rexall Sundown, contended that FDA categorized these ingredients as carbohydrates because they were not analytically assayed as a protein or fat. "This broad definition can lead to confusion in the marketplace," NNFA stated in a press release. "There are no specific regulations on the nutritional status of glycerin, which is chemically different from traditional carbohydrates, such as sugars or starches, and metabolizes differently."
In regard to labeling products with low carb information, Kim Smith, director of state legislative affairs at NNFA, stated that the guidance is based on discussions NNFA's coalition had with FDA in earlier this year. "Companies are going to need to modify their Nutrition Facts Box so that it reflects a carbohydrate calculation that comports with FDA's regulations," she said, explaining this would be a subtraction of the sum of the crude protein, total fat, moisture and ash from the total weight of the food. "FDA should allow for truthful, non-misleading and substantiated statements to appear on a product label."
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