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Feds Expand "Lean" Label to Include Some Pizza & Burritos

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 12, 2007

• Parents Can Shape Childrens' Eating Habits • Overweight Doesn't Always Mean Unhealthy • Exercise in a Pill? • Study: 86 Percent of Americans Could Be Obese by 2030 • Americans Becoming Even More Obese, CDC Says • New Guide Lists Calories in Beer, Wine, Cocktails • Experts Fact-Check 'McDonald's Diet' Story • Dementia Linked To Obesity • Study Ties Obesity, Inflammation to Heart Failure • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Eating Disorders Widespread Among U.S. Women, Survey Finds • Obesity A More Costly Workplace Health Issue Than Smoking • A 'Healthy Weight' May Not Be So Healthy • Skipping Breakfast May Lead to Obesity • Obesity Blamed for Rising Stroke Rate in Women • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • Fast Food+Sedentary Lifestyle=Liver Damage • Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain • Mississippi May Ban Restaurant Sales to the Obese • Eat Less or Exercise More? • Researchers Find 'Fat-Burner' Compounds • Obesity Linked to Decreased Seatbelt Use • Low-Calorie Food Prices Surge • Italian Restaurants Serve Up the Fat • Viral Infections May Promote Obesity • Brits Find Obesity Deadlier Than Smoking • Healthy Restaurants May Bring Out Bad Eating Habits • 'Bad Carbs' Not the Enemy, Researcher Argues • New Pill May Make Weight Loss Safer --- • Weight Loss News • Childhood Obesity

What's lean? Would you believe burritos, pizza rolls, egg rolls?

Odd as it sounds, they're among the foods that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says can now be described as "lean" if they have less than 8 g total fat, 3.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 80 mg cholesterol as determined by a standardized method of testing.

The FDA says it's trying to "provide reliable information that would assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices" by dangling the "lean" carrot in front of what it calls "mixed dishes not measurable with a cup."

FDA says it's a recognition that meals-on-the-go have made their way into consumers' diets and it's trying to provide dietary guidance through what's called the reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) (140 g). Any food with a RACC of less than 80 mg cholesterol is on its way to joining the lean team.

Prior to the new rule, the nutrient content claim "lean" could be applied only to seafood and game meat as well as what FDA describes as "meal and main dish products regulated by FDA that meet the criteria set forth by the agency for these categories." Got that?

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