The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) (Public Law 101-535) is a 1990
United States Federal law. It was signed into law on November 8, 1990 by President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
.
The law gives the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to require nutrition labeling of most foods regulated by the Agency; and to require that all nutrient content claims (for example, 'high fiber', 'low fat', etc.) and health claims meet FDA regulations.
The act did not require
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s to comply with the same standards.
The regulations became effective for health claims, ingredient declarations, and percent juice labeling on May 8, 1993 (but percent juice labeling was exempted until May 8, 1994).
Effective Jan. 1, 2006, the Nutrition Facts Labels on packaged food products are required by the FDA to list how many grams of
trans fatty acid (trans fat) are contained within one serving of the product.
Dietary Supplement Act of 1992
Senator
Orrin Hatch of Utah introduced the
Health Freedom Act of 1992 which would have blocked the FDA from using health claims as a reason to regulate dietary supplements as drugs. The senator said he "entered the controversy after hearing from constituents in his home state, including both consumers and makers of dietary supplements". Hatch stated that the FDA "can put anybody out of business if they want to." Hatch's bill did not get very far, but it encouraged Congress to pass the
Dietary Supplement Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-571), which blocked the FDA from applying its forthcoming labeling rules for conventional foods to dietary supplements for another year, until the end of 1993.
[ p. 255][ Source of quotes.]
The
Nutritional Health Alliance, an industry lobby group,
claimed credit for getting the
Dietary Supplement Act of 1992 passed.
See also
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Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 ("DSHEA"), is a 1994 statute of United States Federal legislation which defines and regulates dietary supplements. Under the act, supplements are regulated by the FDA for Good Manufacturing P ...
*
Food Guide Pyramid
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Notes
External links
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* {{cite web , url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm20026097.htm , title=Nutrition Facts Label Programs & Materials , work=Ingredients, Packaging & Labeling , series=Labeling & Nutrition , publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Nutritional Health Alliance v. Shalala 953 F.Supp. 526 (S.D.N.Y., 1997) Challenge, on First Amendment grounds, the NLEA framework requiring advanced FDA authorization for health claims made on vitamin labels.
1990 in law
United States federal health legislation