[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1471-E1472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            CONSUMERS' NUTRITION AND HEALTH INFORMATION ACT

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                            HON. FRED UPTON

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 1997

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 2208--the 
Consumers' Nutrition and Health Information Act. I am pleased that my 
colleagues Representatives Ed Towns, Martin Frost, and Bobby Rush are 
joining me in supporting this legislation as original cosponsors.
  The Consumers Nutrition and Health Information Act is designed to 
increase consumers' access to timely, accurate information about the 
health benefits of foods and nutrients. It is very similar to the 
language on health claims contained in the Food and Drug Administration 
[FDA] reform bill reported with bipartisan support by the Senate Labor 
and Human Resources Committee last month.
  The bill would permit manufacturers to make health claims on food 
labels without having to go through the long, complex FDA preapproval 
process when claims were based on authoritative statements published by 
the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for

[[Page E1472]]

Disease Control and Prevention, and other Federal scientific 
organizations with official responsibility for public health protection 
or research relating directly to human nutrition. The manufacturer 
would be required to notify the FDA of the proposed claim 120 days 
before its introduction to the market and would have to provide the FDA 
with an explanation of the basis for the claim.
  The need for this legislation is perhaps best demonstrated by history 
of the health claim for the nutrient folic acid. In 1992, the Public 
Health Service reported that about half the 2,500 neural tube birth 
defects such as those that result in spina bifida that occur in the 
United States each year are preventable with sufficient folic acid 
consumption among women of childbearing age. One of the most effective 
means of getting this information out to women would have been on food 
labels. But the FDA did not approve this claim for food labels until 
1996, a 4-year lag.
  By giving a presumption of approvability to health claims for foods 
based on official, authoritative statements by Federal agencies such as 
the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, this legislation will better ensure the public's timely 
access to this important information. And by retaining the FDA's right 
to review such claims for 120 days before they are made, the 
legislation protects against false or misleading claims going to 
market.
  I encourage my colleagues to join Representatives Towns, Frost, Rush 
and me in cosponsoring this bill. Your support will highlight the 
importance of this reform and ensure that it is a key element of any 
broader FDA reform effort that may be undertaken in this Congress.

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