FFF Exam 1

Lecture 1: Introduction

How can you quickly identify whether a packaged product is a food, supplement, or drug?

Nutrition Facts = food; Supplement Facts = supplement; Drug Facts = drug

The slides specifically note that a Nutrition Facts panel means the product is legally a food

How does the course broadly define a food?

Something consumed through the mouth that is not alcohol, tobacco, or a drug; this broad definition includes supplements

What distinguishes a drug from a food?

Drugs are intended for diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or to affect body structure/function other than through food

What major dietary problem do Americans have?

Americans, including children, generally do not follow a healthy dietary pattern consistent with the Dietary Guidelines

Do fad diets necessarily address the actual problems identified by the Dietary Guidelines?

No. They often don't address the real dietary gaps, although they may contain an element of truth and sometimes cause beneficial changes

What are functional foods/nutraceuticals often designed to do?

Address perceived gaps in people's diets, such as by adding fiber, protein, whole grains/legumes, fruits/vegetables or probiotics, or reducing added sugar. Not all of these are necessarily true dietary gaps

Who developed the NOVA food-classification system?

Dr. Carlos Monteiro

What are the 4 NOVA groups?

Group I: Unprocessed/minimally processed foods (fresh fruit, eggs, nuts)
Group II: Processed culinary ingredients (Olive oil, milk, sugar, honey, salt)
Group III: Processed foods (cheese, bread, canned fish, bottled vegetables)
Group IV: Ultra-processed foods (soda, pizza, ice cream)

How does the lecture describe ultra-processed foods?

Industrial formulations containing substances extracted from foods, synthesized ingredients, and/or additives

Lecture 2: What is a Food

What two major food laws were passed in 1906?

Pure Food and Drug Act and Federal Meat Inspection Act

Why were early U.S. food laws created?

Problems with fake/adulterated foods and unsanitary conditions

What is the Pure Food and Drug Act?

Illegal to manufacture or distribute any food or drug that is adulterated/contaminated or misbranded

Defined adulterated foods as Mixed or packaged with something that reduces or lowers or injuriously affects its quality or strength; substituted in whole or part or subtracted from in whole or part; Mixed with a substance (colored powder, stain, coating) added to conceal inferior or damaged quality

What is the Federal Meat Inspection Act?

US Bureau of Chemistry (predecessor to the Food and Drug Administration) given authority to inspect foods

What is a Standard of Identity?

A legal definition describing what a particular food must be

What ingredients are part of the Standard of Identity for mayonnaise in the example?

Vegetable oil + acid such as vinegar/lemon juice + egg

What are Defect Action Levels?

Tolerances for unavoidable things in foods, such as insect parts, fly eggs, rodent droppings, and mold

What is the normal rule for new food additives?

They must be approved (by the Food Additive Admendment)

What two categories provide exemptions from normal food-additive approval?

GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) and prior sanctioned substances

Are color additives treated the same way?

All color additives must be approved

Synthetic colors come from a list

Natural colors come from plant and animal extract

What does FDA approval of a new additive establish?

Allowable uses, maximum levels of use, and labeling rules

What law defined dietary supplements in 1994?

Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA)

Do dietary supplements require pre-market approval like food additives?

No

What may a dietary supplement contain?

Vitamins, minerals, herbs/botanicals, amino acids, dietary substances, or concentrates/metabolites/constituents/extracts/combinations of these

Dietary labels must include…

Statement of identity (supplement)

Net quantity of contents

Direction for use

Other ingredients in descending order

Supplemental fact panel

Name and address of distributor/ manufacturer

What did the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 do?

Required food-safety plans, risk-based inspections (frequency increases with risk of foods), new imported-food rules, and the FDA may force a recall (before 2011, the FDA could only force recalls on infant formula)

5 key areas: Preventative, Inspection and compliance, Imported food safety, Response, and Enhanced partnerships

What did the Affordable Care Act of 2010 require regarding restaurants?

Nutrition/calorie labeling for standard menu items at restaurants and vending operations with more than 20 locations

What is the historical emphasis of U.S. food law?

Food safety and authenticity, rather than primarily making foods nutritionally healthy

Lecture 3: Clean Food

Is “clean food” legally defined?

No

What characteristics do consumers commonly associate with “clean” food?

Minimally processed, fresh, organic, short/simple ingredient lists, and absence of GMOs, artificial ingredients, “chemicals,” or unfamiliar ingredients

Is “natural” formally regulated by the FDA according to this lecture?

No; the lecture states FDA does not regulate the term “natural.”

What is the informal definition of natural?

Not manmade, not artificial or synthetic, including added colors

What are clean and natural both about?

They are about what is not in certain foods rather than what it is

If FDA doesn't define “clean,” who sometimes creates standards?

Consumer/private organizations, such as the Clean Label Project

Does the FDA regulate the limits of toxins in foods? Can they still take action?

No but initiatives are in the works (such as lead in foods)

They can take action by issuing warnings and recalls

Why was the term “evaporated cane juice” a labeling problem?

It was cane syrup/sugar, and FDA determined that calling it “juice” could mislead consumers into thinking it was juice rather than sugar

What labeling change was proposed for high-fructose corn syrup?

Calling it “corn sugar.”

Request filed by Corn Refiners in 2010

Which term actually has an FDA-regulated meaning: “clean” or “healthy”?

Healthy

But healthy can include “unhealthy” foods and not include “healthy” foods

What does the newer FDA “healthy” rule limit?

Added sugar, sodium, and saturated fat

Give examples of foods the newer rule allows to qualify as healthy that had problems under the old rule

Nuts/seeds, avocados, and water

Lecture 4: Ultra Processed Foods

What guideline was listed for identifying an ultra-processed food?

5 or more ingredients was one guideline

Salts, sugars, oils, and fats

“not common” ingredients

What “uncommon” ingredients may suggest ultra-processing?

Hydrolyzed proteins, modified starches, hydrogenated oils, colorings, flavorings, sweeteners, emulsifiers, etc

Are ultra-processed classifications based only on how much physical processing occurs?

No. The lecture emphasizes that many systems depend heavily on the ingredients

Why can processed foods sometimes improve nutrient intake?

Processing can allow fortification, such as folate fortification of cereal grains and micronutrient fortification of breakfast cereals

Ex) Folate foritification for babies

Is eliminating all processed food automatically healthier?

No. The lecture describes it as difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and not always healthier

Why might homemade food sometimes be less healthy?

Larger portion sizes or underestimating ingredients such as added sugar or salt

Ex) Oatmeal where you add your own sugar, but people added way too much to make it taste normal

What was diet quality more strongly associated with than cooking skill?

Food/meal management skills

Lecture 5: Food Labels

What 5 things must food labels include?

Identity

Quantity

Nutrition Facts

Ingredient list

Manufacturer

What goes on the Principal Display Panel?

Identity + quantity

What goes on the Information Panel?

Nutrition Facts + ingredient list + manufacturer

In what order are ingredients listed?

Descending order by weight

What names generally must be used for ingredients?

Their common names—for example, sugar rather than sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup rather than “corn sugar.”

Where must major allergens be identified?

In the ingredient list or a separate “Contains” statement

How should preservatives be identified?

Must list common name and its purpose

Ex) Ascorbic acid to promote color retention

Colors but have “for color” added

When did regulated Nutrition Facts labeling begin in the U.S.?

The 1990s

What were major goals of mandatory nutrition labels?

Reduce confusion, help consumers choose healthier products, and encourage manufacturers to improve nutritional quality

Difficult to separate advertising and labeling without rules

What did the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 do?

Gave the FDA authority to mandate nutrition labels and specified nutrients, serving sizes, daily-diet context, and nutrient-content claims

What are Daily Values?

A combination of Reference Daily Intakes + Daily Reference Values, allowing the label to show how much a serving contributes to the daily diet as a percentage

Which nutrients were mostly considered suggested maximums?

Fat, carbohydrate, and sodium

Which were mostly suggested minimums?

Vitamins/minerals, plus fiber and protein as minimum-type targets

Key items needed for a consumer to make decisions were…

How much of what should we be eating

How do we communicate to people how much they should eat of these nutrients and how much this product contributes

Which nutrients do we include

Why was “Calories from Fat” removed in 2016?

Because type of fat was considered more important than calories from fat

Must list saturated and trans fats

What carbohydrate labeling change occurred in the 2010s?

“Sugars” changed to Total Sugars, and Added Sugars was added

Added fiber because we want people to eat more fiber

What vitamin/mineral changes occurred on the newer label?

Vitamin D and potassium were added as priorities; vitamins A and C were no longer the main mandatory vitamins. Iron and calcium remained

Is serving size a recommended amount to eat?

No. It is based on the amount customarily consumed

Average portion for people 4+ of age

What are the 6 approved calorie-calculation approaches?

Atwater factors

Basic 4-4-9

4-4-9 adjusted for non-digestible carbs

4-4-9 with FDA-approved specific food factors

4-4-9 adjusted for sugar alcohol

Bomb calorimetry adjusted for protein

What is the basic 4-4-9 rule?

Carbohydrate = 4 kcal/g, protein = 4 kcal/g, fat = 9 kcal/g

Lecture 6: Nutrition Panel

What does RACC stand for?

Reference Amount Customarily Consumed

What does RACC do?

Creates the serving sizes for foods (FDA ran)

What is a serving size supposed to represent?

The amount customarily consumed, not a recommended amount

What age group is the general adult/child RACC based on?

Average intake for people age 4 and older

What are toddler and infant RACCs based on?

Toddler products: ages 1–3; infant products: under 12 months

Why were serving sizes updated?

Actual portion sizes had increased since the older data from the 1970s/80s

When is dual-column labeling required according to these slides?

When a package is around 2–3× the RACC and could reasonably be eaten in one sitting; the label shows per-serving and per-container information

Why can RACCs still underestimate how much people eat?

People tend to underestimate their consumption, including in data used to establish the RACC

What fat categories are specifically discussed on the Nutrition Facts panel?

Total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Mono- and polyunsaturated fats can be optional

Do small businesses have to have a nutrition facts label?

No but if they do not have one they cant make health claims on the package

How does the FDA check nutrition fact labels?

The FDA uses Association of Analytical Chemists (AOAC)

What is saturated fat structurally?

Fatty acids with no double bonds

What is unsaturated fat structurally?

Fatty acids with at least one double bond

Is trans fat technically saturated or unsaturated?

Unsaturated

How much saturated/trans fat must be in the product for it to have to be on the label?

Must be listed if over 0.5g per serving

Why does trans fat act more like saturated fat?

Its trans configuration produces a straighter, more rigid structure rather than curved (Cis), giving it physical properties more similar to saturated fat

Trans = solid fat

When do optional mono- and polyunsaturated fat values become required?

When certain claims are made, such as fatty-acid or cholesterol-related claims

How is protein commonly measured for labeling (AOAC method)?

6.25 × nitrogen content, with correction for digestibility

Why can the nitrogen method for protein be manipulated

The test can detect other nitrogen-containing molecules, such as melamine, as if they were protein

Does protein normally have to list % Daily Value?

No, according to the lecture, because protein intake generally is not a concern in the U.S.

Lecture 7: Carbs, Micronutrients, and Others

What values are used to calculate total carbohydrates?

Proximate composition

How is total carbohydrate determined?

By subtraction: food mass − protein − fat − moisture − ash = total carbohydrate

Why does total carbohydrate contain measurement error?

Because it is calculated after measuring everything else, the errors from those measurements end up in the carbohydrate value

Food weight - [everything else] = Total carbohydrate

How does the lecture define dietary fiber?

The total non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrate plus lignin; non-digestible carbohydrates have more than 3 sugar units

What are total sugars?

The sum of free mono- and disaccharides such as lactose, glucose, fructose, and sucrose

How does the AOAC measure total sugar?

Liquid chromatography and color-reaction methods

Why can't laboratory testing alone distinguish added sugar from naturally occurring sugar?

They test the same, so manufacturers must keep records showing what was added