NEWS
12/07/1992

<TITLE>Nationwide survey of food stores</TITLE>
<PRE>
P92-36                                      Food and Drug Administration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       Brad Stone - (202) 205-4144

    The Food and Drug Administration today announced the start of a           
nationwide survey of food stores to see how many are voluntarily providing    
nutrition information about the 20 most popular varieties each of raw         
fruits, vegetables and seafood.
    The 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act -- which requires           
nutrition labeling for nearly all processed foods -- provides for retailers   
to voluntarily display nutrition information about these unprocessed          
products as well.  If the results of the survey show that fewer than 60       
percent of food retailers are in compliance, the act requires FDA to          
develop, by May 1993, regulations to require nutrition labeling on these      
products.  
    "Americans want information about the foods they eat, to make informed    
choices about their diet," said FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler, M.D.       
"They want to know the facts about fresh as well as processed foods."
    Final regulations establishing new labeling for processed foods were      
announced Dec. 2.
    The voluntary program for raw foods provides nutrient values for these    
60 foods, including information on calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates,     
sodium, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron per serving.  Information on   
dietary fiber is also provided for fruits and vegetables, while information   
on cholesterol and saturated fat are provided for seafood. 
                                   -MORE-

                                            Page 2, P92-36, Food Survey
    Retailers may provide this information to consumers through a variety of  
means including labels affixed to the products, brochures or charts           
displayed in close proximity to the foods.
    FDA has contracted with the National Retail Tracking Index, Inc., a       
division of the Ehrhart-Babic Group of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., to survey a    
sample of 2,000 retail food stores across the country to see if they are      
participating in the program.  The results of the survey will then be used    
to gauge participation levels throughout the entire retail food industry.
    To be judged to be participating, retailers must provide consumers with   
information for at least 90 percent of the 40 varieties of fruits and         
vegetables, and 90 percent of the 20 kinds of seafood they sell.              
Participation will be assessed separately for produce and seafood.  FDA will  
view the voluntary labeling program to be successful overall if at least 60   
percent of the surveyed stores are determined to be complying with the        
guidelines. 
    Industry groups, such as the Food Marketing Institute, are mounting       
campaigns to encourage participation by retailers in this voluntary           
program.  These groups are distributing educational materials developed with  
FDA to help retailers meet all the terms of the voluntary guidelines. 
    The following is an alphabetical listing of the 20 most popular           
varieties of raw fruits, vegetables and fish included in this program:
VEGETABLES -- Asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrot,              
cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, green bean, green onion, iceberg         
lettuce, leaf lettuce, mushroom, onion, potato, radish, summer squash, sweet  
potato and tomato.

FRUITS -- Apple, avocado, banana, cantaloupe, cherry, grape, grapefruit,      
honeydew, kiwifruit, lemon, lime, nectarine, orange, peach, pear, pineapple,  
plum, strawberry, tangerine and watermelon.

SEAFOOD -- Blue crab, catfish, clam, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut,         
lobster, mackerel (Atlantic/Pacific and jack), ocean perch, orange roughy,    
oyster, pollock, rainbow trout, rockfish, salmon (Atlantic/coho), scallops,   
shrimp, sole and whiting.

    FDA is one of the eight U.S. Public Health Service agencies in HHS.

                                    ###
</PRE>