Nutrition and Policy. 3: Food Industry Response to Nutritional Standards

Remember when your morning bowl of cereal only needed to taste good and fill you up until lunch? Today, whether they sell cereal or hamburgers or soup or wine, food growers and processors stir nutrition into their marketing plans, looking for another competitive edge as shoppers cruise supermarket aisles. According to one analyst of food policy, the industry's role is really circular, because producers lobby extensively in Washington to influence the formulation of guidelines and respond to them once they are issued (Intl J Health Service. 23:483-96, 1993).

The percentages of recommended daily allowances (RDAs) listed on food packaging are based on a diet of 2000 calories. However, “food is a $900 billion industry that produces 3800 calories per capita every day,” remarks Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University. “That's more than anyone needs to eat, so competition produces an emphasis on low costs, advertising, and marketing. They try to get you to eat their products and to eat more in general.”

In recent years, food producers have resorted to adding or subtracting nutrients, making labeling changes, and using genetics to attract consumers. Examples can be found in actions of the beef, dairy, and cereal industries. Producers of alcoholic beverages and salt also use similar strategies to position their products advantageously. Consumers, in turn, are trying to follow current nutritional advice, whether in the form of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) dietary guidelines or standards put forth by other groups.