Hello, this is Monica Reinagal.

Welcome to the Nutrition Diva Podcast, episode number 403.

Today we're talking about the big debate going on right now at the

FDA about which foods should be allowed to market themselves as quote-unquote healthy.

The FDA is asking for public comment on this issue and

wouldn't you know I do have an opinion on this and in addition to sharing my thoughts

with the FDA I thought I'd share them with you as well.

At the end of the podcast, I've also got a great listener Q&A on a weight loss supplement that

has some interesting scientific research to back it up.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the agency that gets to decide

what kind of health claims American food manufacturers can make about their products.

The claim that you'll find on a box of Cheerios cereal, for example,

stating that Cheerios helps you lower your cholesterol is allowed

to be there only because the FDA has approved it. Make a claim that the FDA hasn't

approved and you may find yourself in a heap of trouble.

That's what happened to the small company that makes kind snack bars.

Kind bars, I'm sure you've seen them. They're made primarily out of nuts, whole grains, and

other wholesome ingredients. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a completely unprocessed

food, and 10 being the most highly processed food you can think of,

I put them at about a three. The nutrition values vary but I'm impressed that there are

at least a half a dozen flavors that have only five grams of added

sugar or less. That's pretty good for a snack bar. And yet, when kind bars tried to promote

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