FDA Proposes to Disallow Soy Protein Health Claims on Food Labeling, May Allow 'Qualified' Claims

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing to revoke a regulation authorizing the use on food labeling of health claims that eating soy protein reduces the risk of heart disease, it said. According to the agency’s proposed rule, evidence has emerged since the health claim was authorized in 1998 that contradicts the finding that soy protein encourages heart health. If FDA finalizes its rule, it “intends to allow the use of a qualified health claim as long as there is sufficient evidence to support a link between eating soy protein and a reduced risk of heart disease,” FDA Center for Food Safety and Nutrition Director Susan Mayne said in a statement. “A qualified health claim, which requires a lower scientific standard of evidence than an authorized health claim, would allow industry to use qualifying language that explains the limited evidence linking consumption of soy protein with heart disease risk reduction.”