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Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/102355
NATURAL SELECTIONS food is deemed safe for heart health when eaten as part of a balanced diet. Foods must comply with existing FDA or USDA requirements for making a heart-related claim, which means it contains less than 6.5 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol and 480 milligrams of sodium per serving, and at least 10 percent of the recommended daily allowance of nutrients. AHA's program, which began in 1995, recently added fish and nuts to its products and has a new look for its Heart-Check Mark. heart.org HORMONE-FREE MEAT or rBGH-FREE DAIRY P Implies that hormones were not used during the life of the animal. The USDA disapproves use of the phrase "hormone-free" on any meat products but does allow "no hormones administered." There is currently no organization that can verify the claim; the USDA, however, can hold manufacturers accountable for its use. The FDA has stated that milk bearing a "no hormones" or "hormone-free" label is guaranteed false because milk contains naturally occurring hormones, but it does make a distinction for rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) or rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin), a synthetic growth hormone given to cows to increase milk production. Certified organic milk and dairy products are rBGH-free, but there is no standalone rBGH-free certification. KOSHER R This mark attests that foods meet the standards of Jewish dietary laws. For more than 80 years, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (OU) has been the leading certifier of kosher foods, supervising hundreds of thousands of products in more than 90 countries throughout the world. Other certifiers' labels include cRc, Star-K, Triangle-K and Kof-k. Next to the agency's symbol may be a letter identifying the product's kosher status: "D" indicates dairy; "M," meat; "P," kosher for Passover. Parve or Pareve foods will include that word next to the symbol, guaranteeing that the product does not contain or has not come into contact with meat or dairy products. oukosher.org MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL R Guarantees that the seafood comes from a certified sustainable fishery. MSC is an independent nonprofit organization that guarantees the authenticity of sustainable seafood and promotes sustainable fisheries—those that "ensure that the catch of marine resources are at the level compatible with long-term sustainable yield, while maintaining the marine environment's biodiversity, productivity and ecological process." MSC uses independent third-party verifiers to ensure chain-of-custody certification. Fisheries already certified or in full assessment represent more than 11 percent of the annual global harvest of wild-capture fisheries. Worldwide, more than 15,000 seafood products wear the blue MSC ecolabel. msc.org NATURAL P According to the FDA, this is a broad term that applies to foods that are minimally processed and free of synthetic preser- 84 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com vatives, artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and other artificial additives, growth hormones, antibiotics, hydrogenated oils, stabilizers and emulsifiers. Products using the label should explain the use of the term (for example, "no artificial ingredients"). Most foods labeled "natural," "all natural" or "100% natural" are not subject to specific government controls, with the exception of meat and poultry. For these, the USDA defines natural as: no artificial flavoring, color, ingredients, chemical preservatives or artificial or synthetic ingredients, not taking into account animal welfare. Products carrying this claim may be only minimally processed, which means the raw product was not fundamentally altered. NO ANTIBIOTICS ADMINISTERED/RAISED WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS P The USDA accepts these claims to mean that the animal was neither fed nor treated with antibiotics. The USDA deems the term "antibiotic-free" as unapprovable. The USDA is accountable for the accuracy of these claims, but there is no verification process. Certified organic meats are by definition raised without antibiotics and do undergo a stringent verification process. NON-GMO PROJECT R As North America's only independent verifier of products made according to best practices for avoiding genetically modified organisms in the U.S. and Canada, the Non-GMO Project seal indicates that the product has gone through a strict verification process. It uses an Action Threshold of 0.9 percent, in alignment with laws in the European Union, where any product containing more than 0.9 percent GMO must be labeled. Absence of all GMOs is the target for all compliant products. After verification, rigorous traceability and segregation practices are followed to ensure ingredient integrity. Verification is main(continued on p. 125)