The Skinny on Low-Carb Claims

A decade ago, Americans were in the middle of the low-fat craze and were flocking to stores to buy everything from low-fat cookies and peanut butter to low-fat salad dressings. Today, history is repeating itself with the low-carb fad, which has resulted in many breads, pizzas, muffins, cookies, cakes, snacks, candy and even beers that now carry "low-carb" labels.

What exactly are low-carb foods and are they really healthier? The following describes what these products are ... and what they are not.

What Are Low-Carb Foods?

According to the latest reports, more than 1,000 products labeled as "low-carb" have made their way to store shelves in the last two years.1 Offering the promise that people can maintain their weight while eating foods that are traditionally off limits during dieting -- such as beer, cakes and cookies, pancake mix, snack foods, ice cream and shakes -- low-carb snacks and beverage sales have tripled in the past three years, according to Information Resources, a sales and marketing research group. The firm also estimates that the average low-carb dieter spends $85 a month on specialized products, for a total of $15 billion in 2003 and an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion in 2004.

To capitalize on this low-carb craze, some marketers are touting products as "no-carb," even though they never had carbohydrates in them, such as meat products. Others are basically repackaging existing diet or "lite" products that have been on the market for many years. For example, beer manufacturers use certain chemicals in the brewing process to reduce carbohydrate levels, although the result is similar in the amount of calories and carbohydrates found in "lite" beers. In addition, a number of marketers are using technology to create low-carb products that replace sugar with sugar alcohol (no reduction in calories), replace flour with soy protein (also no reduction in calories) or use similar methods to lower the carbohydrate content of foods and beverages.

Some of the other ways that manufacturers are able to bring down the carbohydrates in foods include:

Replacing refined wheat flour with soy flour (higher in protein), soy protein and wheat protein;
Replacing sugar with sugar alcohols (maltitol, lactitol or sorbitol) or artificial sweeteners, which is a how sugarless candy is made; and
Adding high fat ingredients, such as nuts.

But are low-carb foods also lower in calories? To address this question, the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter conducted a comparison of the fat, calorie and carbohydrate content of a number of foods labeled as "low- carb" and their conventional counterparts. In the January 2004 issue, the newsletter published its findings, concluding that many of the so called "low-carb" products on the marketplace have nearly as many calories as the traditional products they are replacing and often contain more fat. For example, the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter found that a one-ounce low-carb chocolate bar had 155 calories and 12 grams of fat but no sugar. In contrast, a regular chocolate bar analyzed contained 150 calories and 10 grams of fat.

Although the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter analysis and other comparisons clearly show that there is very little difference in the calorie content of traditional foods and those labeled as "low-carb," this fact has not been explained to the American public. And this worries many nutrition and public health experts who remember what happened a decade ago when many consumers ate large quantities of foods labeled as "low fat" and got fatter in the process. Of key concern is the common misperception that if a food is labeled as "low-carb," it must be helpful in weight control. This attitude is supported by a number of myths that have gained traction with the American public, such as "only carbs can turn to fat" and "the number of calories a person consumes has nothing to do with what he or she weighs."

At the same time, many consumer and nutrition/health groups worry that a lack of legal definitions for "low-carb" foods is adding to public confusion in the marketplace. Today, consumers are confronted with a proliferation of competing products labeled as "low-carb," "reduced carb," "carbohydrate free" "carb aware," "carb smart" and "carb countdown," none of which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result, many people probably assume that federal regulators’ tolerance of "low-carb" claims indicates tacit approval and are making their food purchasing decisions accordingly.

What is being done to address this policy vacuum? The following summarizes the status of efforts by the key government agencies -- FDA, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (part of USDA), and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) -- to regulate how information about the amount of carbohydrates in foods is advertised and labeled.

What the Federal Government Is Doing

Since FDA has jurisdiction over the labeling and claims for all foods except meat and poultry and beverage alcohol, FDA is taking the lead in developing final rules for how food and beverage manufacturers can make claims regarding the carbohydrate content of their products. Towards this end, FDA may soon publish three major petitions submitted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Kraft and ConAgra, which call for the following:

Establishing definitions for four claims characterizing the carbohydrate content of food: "carbohydrate free," "low-carbohydrate," "good source of carbohydrate," and "excellent source of carbohydrate;"
Confirmation that manufacturers can use relative claims characterizing the level of carbohydrate in food as "reduced," "fewer" or "less" in relation to a reference food; and
Confirmation that manufacturers can use the term "modified carbohydrate" in the statement of identity of food.

In publishing these petitions, FDA will begin a formal public comment period, leading to extensive feedback from food manufacturers, nutrition and public health organizations and a number of consumer groups. Based on FDA's review of this information, the agency will then publish a proposed rulemaking and then final regulations, but this process is probably a year away.

In the meantime, two other federal agencies -- the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) -- have issued interim guidelines covering how manufacturers can make carbohydrate claims for meat and poultry products and alcoholic beverages respectively. These guidelines are meant as a stopgap measure and will likely change once FDA issues its final rules.

During this interim period, the FSIS guidance document permits the following on the labels of meat and poultry products:

Statements that do not imply a specific level of carbohydrates, e.g., "carb conscious" and "carb wise"
Use of the term "low" only in reference to a diet or lifestyle -- but not when describing a particular food or product. For example, FSIS considers a statement such as "This product fits into a low-carbohydrate lifestyle" acceptable. However, the statement would not be acceptable if it appears on the label of a high carbohydrate product
Use of carbohydrate content calculations, provided the calculations are adequately explained on the labeling. According to FSIS, because various methods exist to calculate carbohydrate content, any method is acceptable as long as enough information is provided on the labeling for consumers to understand how the calculations were made
Terms such as "net carbs," "effective carbs" and "net impact carbs" when used in a manner that is truthful and not misleading

Under the FSIS interim policy, there are no regulatory definitions for any of the above terms. For this reason, the agency is requiring manufacturers to provide explanatory information about these terms on the package, including providing the necessary calculations to determine the number of carbohydrates. Under FSIS policy, the FSIS Labeling and Consumer Protection Staff must specifically approve each label in advance.

Regarding how alcoholic beverages are labeled, in April 2004, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau issued an interim standard that "low-carb" may only be used on beverages with no more than 7 grams per serving of carbohydrates. TTB has also determined that labeling or advertising statements that imply that consumption of low-calorie or low-carbohydrate alcohol beverages is part of a healthy dietary practice are misleading.

While FDA works to finalize new rules covering carbohydrate content claims, consumer groups such as the National Consumers League are pressing for FDA to follow the lead of FSIS and TBB and issue an interim policy about use of carbohydrate claims and then enforce it. At the same time, NCL is advocating for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which regulates the advertising for food and beverage products, to study the impact of "low-carb" claims on consumers' purchasing and eating habits, and to take action against deceptive carbohydrate claims made in advertising.

Beyond regulating labeling and advertising claims, consumer and nutrition/health groups are unanimous in advocating that all appropriate government agencies -- the Department of Agriculture, FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and others -- remind the public that a healthy diet is one that is rich in carbohydrate-containing foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. At a time of great public confusion, an intensified focus on education about the role of carbohydrates in the diet is an important priority that should be shared by all stakeholders: government leaders, the public health community, educators, consumer organizations and the national media.

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1 New York Times, April 14, 2004