In 1989, the Swedish National Food Administration developed a program
to offer a simple food label (a key hole symbol) that food
manufacturers could place on their packages to indicate their
compliance with certain standards regarding fat and dietary fiber
content (summarized from
http://www.slv.se/templatesSLV/SLV_Page____8190.asp).
Do any other nations offer a government-approved food labelling logo
to indicate compliance with a defined set of nutritional criteria?
This needn't be related to the criteria used by the Swedish NFA for
their key-hole symbol.
I'm particularly interested in Japan and European countries, but
concrete information (with sources) for any moderately developed
country (eg., per capita GDP above or near 5,000 USD) would be
acceptable. A well-supported negative answer is just as valuable as a
positive answer.
I'll set the price at $20, and every country beyond the first five (5)
for which this information is provided will be worth an additional
$2.50. (EU-wide standards count as one :).
Thanks. |
Clarification of Question by
mgomez-ga
on
21 Feb 2004 17:27 PST
I'm new to Answers, and it seems I was lowballing my list price for
this question. So, in addition to raising the list to $30, I'll offer
$5 for each additional country over four (4) for which this is
answered.
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
21 Feb 2004 18:04 PST
There exist government-approved logos for organic foods, and for
certain other food properties such as point-of-origin information
(e.g. a certification that Swiss Cheese *really* comes from
Switzerland). But from what I've seen thus far, there do not seem to
be strictly nutritional logos other than the (can I say it?...ugly!)
keyhole symbol in use in Sweden.
Are you interested in the other logos at all?
If not, what type of information would you consider to amount to a
"well supported" negative answer?
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Clarification of Question by
mgomez-ga
on
26 Feb 2004 09:24 PST
Thanks for the response, palafala. I thought my question was so well
posed until you asked what actually would constitute support for a
negative answer - I don't know what would clearly establish the lack
of the type of program I'm looking for.
One thing I can clearly say is that I'm not looking for organic logos
or point-of-origin certification.
I'm open to suggestions about what would be suitable evidence to
support a neagtive answer with regard to a given country. The only
thing that comes to mind is an e-mail to that effect from an employee
in the relevant food regulatory agency, but that seems rather
cumbersome, and only available where english-writing employees can be
found.
In other words, let me know if you have any ideas about negative
evidence, otherwise I'd like to just award a portion of the list
price, but I don't believe that's possible...
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
26 Feb 2004 09:30 PST
Thanks for getting back to me.
It's true, negative answers that a thing doesn't seem to exist are
always a bit trickier than positive ones that find a concrete example.
I'll keep looking around and let you know what I come up with (if anything!).
pafalafa-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
26 Feb 2004 17:07 PST
OK...here's what I've got.
There are people and organizations that LIVE the labeling issue...they
go to interenational meetings, they sit on UN, and EU and WHO advisory
boards, they exchange information between countries. If there were
other nations using nutritional symbols, they would be the ones to
know.
One the biggest icon proponents is CSPI -- the Center for Science in
the Public Interest -- in Washington DC.
CSPI has made numerous mention of Sweden's keyhole icon as a model for
what they would like to see in the U.S. The only similar symbol that
they reference is that of the American Heart Association's
"Heart-Check" symbol. This serves a similar role as the Keyhole, but
is a voluntary, non-governmental symbol.
Beyond Heart-Check, there just doesn't seem to be anything out there.
You can see a CSPI speech on the topic at:
cspinet.org/new/pdf/mjfdlispeech.pdf
which says, in part:
"The first [recommended labeling option] would be a voluntary program
based on a ?good food? symbol. The American Heart Association and
similar groups abroad have sponsored ?heartcheck? programs that use
such a symbol. The groups have established criteria for healthful
foods and then licensed their symbols to food companies for use on
qualifying products. Similarly, the Swedish government has defined
criteria for certain categories of food that allow companies to use,
for no charge, a special ?keyhole? symbol on suitable products. For
example, Sweden requires breads to be 100% whole grain and contain a
certain amount of fiber, while milk must not contain more than 1% fat.
I?d quibble with some of the heart association?s and Sweden?s
criteria, but the concept of those programs is right on target..."
==========
Some information on AHA's Heart-Check symbol can be found here:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2115
"The Next Step in Food Labeling -- "Shop Smart. Live Well. Look for
the heart-check mark -- it sums up the Food Certification Program's
core values. The American Heart Association established its Food
Certification Program in 1995 to provide consumers a quick, easy way
to identify heart-healthy foods. We developed the program as an
outcome of our ongoing efforts with the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to help consumers with food selection. Foods displaying the
heart-check mark are evaluated to ensure they meet the program's
standards."
==========
Let me know if this type of information comes close to what you need.
Anyone?a child, non-English-speaking immigrant, or harried soccer
mom?could go shopping and identify some of the best foods by looking for the
symbol."
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
26 Feb 2004 17:20 PST
Ooops...I cut off that last paragraph in an odd way. It should read:
"The Next Step in Food Labeling -- "Shop Smart. Live Well. Look for
the heart-check mark -- it sums up the Food Certification Program's
core values. The American Heart Association established its Food
Certification Program in 1995 to provide consumers a quick, easy way
to identify heart-healthy foods. We developed the program as an
outcome of our ongoing efforts with the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to help consumers with food selection. Foods displaying the
heart-check mark are evaluated to ensure they meet the program's
standards. Anyone?a child, non-English-speaking immigrant, or harried soccer
mom?could go shopping and identify some of the best foods by looking for the
symbol."
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Clarification of Question by
mgomez-ga
on
26 Feb 2004 23:54 PST
This question actually started as a follow up to a letter from CSPI's
director regarding Sweden's keyhole symbol (appearing in Nutrition
Action, Dec 2003). So I had a little background on CSPI's position in
calling for a US equivalent to the keyhole.
Anyways, I'll take this as an answer. This is only my second question
on GA, so thanks for bearing with me as I learn about better ways to
ask questions here. I appreciate your repeated follow-ups.
And I feel like CSPI's research on the matter is probably far more
thorough than anything I could muster, so if they haven't found
anything besides the keyhole and heartcheck labels, it probably isn't
there to be found.
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