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Earlier this month, the FDA announced it will be reevaluating it's term "healthy", and therefore altering which foods will be considered healthful. As ideas of healthy eating change, FDA regulations should be changing as well. The current regulations reflect more of the simplistic beliefs from the 1980's and 90's, when low fat content and high levels of carbohydrates were seen as healthful. Today, those ideas have changed. This adjustment in regulations will not only affect labeling, but also will affect company products and their overall profit.
Under current FDA rules, some cereals and snacks are considered healthier than fruits and nuts solely based on fat content. For example, cereals that are high in sugar but low in fat can be considered healthy, but an avocado would not be considered healthy because of it's fat content. This misconception about what is healthy has been misleading consumers for years, and it gives a false idea of healthful living. These rules and regulations are expected to change in the near future as the FDA attempts to modernize their definition of "healthy" in order to keep up with changing eating habits. The FDA plans to solicit both food experts and the general public as for what the definition of "healthy" should be in today's society.
Recent research has transformed the connotation of fatty foods, uncovering that it is the type of fat, not just the amount, that determines if the product is healthy or not. Discoveries like these are what are leading consumers to make revisions in their purchases. Over the past few years, sales of fat-free products have dropped, while gluten-free and all natural items have significantly increased. Some of the largest manufacturers in the world are in the food industry, with cereal being one of their top products. With the FDA's new alterations on which products fall under the category of "healthy," these companies could see a drop-off in sales if their products go unchanged. Today's society is more in tune with healthful eating and living more than any generation before us, and changes in the FDA's regulations will not be ignored. Companies that take the new guidelines into consideration and shift products accordingly will be the ones to attract and keep today's consumers.
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