The Hindu Business Line : Cashew axed from FDA list of `health' nuts

THE US Food and Drug Administration has excluded cashew from the select list of nuts that can reduce the risk of heart diseases. The health aspects of these nuts can be displayed on packaged labels.

The FDA, which has just approved the first qualified health claim for select list of nuts, had disqualified cashew, along with Brazil nuts and macadamias, as it has more saturated fat than the prescribed levels, according to the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) sources.

The exclusion, they said, had come in response to a petition filed by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation (INC).

The "disqualifying nutrient levels means the levels of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium in a food above which the food will be disqualified from making a health claim. These levels are 13.0 grams (g) of fat, 4.0 g of saturated fat, 60 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol, or 480 mg of sodium, per reference amount customarily consumed, per label serving size, and, only for foods with reference amounts customarily consumed of 30 g or less, or two tablespoons or less per 50 g.

For dehydrated foods that must have water added to them prior to consumption, the per 50-g criterion refers to the prepared form. Any one of the levels, on a per reference amount customarily consumed, a per label serving size or, when applicable, a per 50 g basis, will disqualify a food from making a health claim."

The original claim statement suggested by INC to the FDA referred to the consumption of one oz of nuts per day. But the FDA reverted with approval of a claim statement suggesting eating of 1.5 oz of nuts per day. Why the FDA increased the recommended daily consumption is not clear, they pointed out. However, it follows that 1.5 oz could also be considered as an additional "reference amount customarily consumed" for nuts for the purpose of a proposed health claim.

Cashews, they argued, had less than 4 g saturated fat per 1.0 oz. If 1.0 oz were adopted as the "reference amount customarily consumed", cashews would not be disqualified on the basis of the relevant provisions of regulations and would therefore be eligible for inclusion with other nuts.

They said it would be possible to petition the FDA for a waiver from this disqualification and the cashew stakeholders would have to work together towards achieving this goal.

Industry sources told Business Line that they were seriously concerned over this issue and would take it up with the appropriate authorities soon.