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rOSL I Washington, DC < . ~ ~ What's in Food? Answers Differ at 2 encies Manufacturers Fight to Keep FDA Label Rules From Encroaching on FTC Ad Rules By Michael Weisekopf W,.%.N. Are sns /idrr "It's difficult to keep the food in- dustry genie in the bottle," said Bruce Silverglade, legal director of tbe.tyeater for Science in the Public IatRLK lust as the FDA acts to ptnhN t misleading claims, the indus- try baa discovered another govetn- -tsent agency to lobby for a more fa- vorable deal. Who would ever sus power is the time that elapsed be- tweea government proposals on re- forming product labeling and when new ruks were adopted. The ftrtt regulatory effort was in 1979, but not until Congress psssed the Nutre- tion Labeling and Eduatioa Act of 1990 did begin brosdty to The industry steps up the poc when an issue tttovea into the regu- latory realm. Forma regulators are hired to work on the ruk-maldttg at their old agencies, Peter B. Hutt, former FDA general counsel, repre- sented the Grocery Manufacturers of Amerin (GMA) on labeling. Two fortner top FTC officials now work aa ad issues for GMA: Toni Guatvw In TV ads, Bertolli pitehes its olive oil as something of a health food. To the strains of Italian opera, an an- nouncer says that cooking with Ber- tolli makes food "this delicious and this good for you, as olive oil has no choLesterol." But on grocery store shelves, Ber- tolli makes no such nutrition claim on its labels. The presentations vary because there are different rules for food ad- vertising and for food labeling, dif- ferences the powerful food industry is working hard to preserve. Last year, the Food and Drug Ad- ministration approved labeling changes for virtually every food iteni sold in American supertnarkets, pushing through some of the strict- est standards over the objections of food companies. Now the industry is trying to keep the revolution from spreading to other forms of food pro- motion-TV, radio and print com- mercials-that are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is reviewing ways of conforming to the FDA rules, con- sidering the first comprehensive standards for health and nutrition claims in food advertising. Why food labeling and advertising should be regulated differently may be lost on the average consumer but is not on the food lobbyists. They want to keep the cumbersome, ex- acting FDA rules from interfering with the snappy ads that consumers often rely on more than labels. The industry says it is willing to accept the standards of truthfulness for its advertisements, if not the lev- el of detail required by the FDA for labels, and its lobbyists have seized on the FTC review as a chance to reinforce what they contend are ma- jor differences in the purpose of a fixed label and a 15-second spot. Rather than trying to forestall change, one food industry lobbyist recently called for a quick compro- mise on ads while the five-member commission is still controlled by ap- pointees selected during the Reagan and Bush adrninistrations. But consumer advocates accuse the industry of exaggerating the dif- ferences to free food advertising from the high standards of scientific evidence and disclaimers required for labeling. ufacturers are major employers in many congressional distrietU, giving the industry a way to focus local pressure on Capitol Hill. Few industries can amass such a lobby. Food giants, such as RJR Nabisco and Kraft General Foods, have their own lobbyists here. Far more come from trade groups, which seem to have a lobbyist for each shetf of the supermarket: among them are the SnacJt Food Association, Amer- ican Butter Institute and National Honey Board. One measure of the food lobbyrs <p,xt that the food companies can make health claims in food advertis- ing that are prohibited in food label- ingAt stake is the content of the ads that bombard con.wmers on the air- waves, glossy magazine pages and in newspaper supplements. Applied to actual industry ads on television, the fmtds of questions facing the FTC are whether.  Bertolli shoukf be allowed to pro- mote its olive oil as cholesterobfree when the FDA's new labeling rules bar such claims without disclosing the high fat content in each serving.  Egglattds Best should be able to boaat that its eggs "cause no in- creaae in serum cholesteroY in clin- ~ ical testa. when FDA rules bar sucb claims unku they are supported by `sigai5cattt" agreement in the scien- tific community.  Leader'a shottld be able to pro- mote its bagels as having "more com- pkkx carbohydrates than a lot of ce- reala people call healthy when the FDA rules do not permit use of the term because there is no meaningful definition for complex carbohy- drates. New labeling standards for health and nutrition claftns will become ef- fective betweea oest oottth and May 1994. But the FDA has pre+ioualy prohibited claima aimilar to tbae in the Egglands and Bertolli ads. The advertisatg fight is being played out on two fronts here. In ad- ditioa to the FTC, which is studying ways to addras tbe i" and has solicited comments from both aides, members of Coagress are getting into the act. A Senate bill introduced eariier this year would give the FDA the power to regulate advertising, and other measures are expected to try to narrow the gap between ad and labeling ruks. Food companies are well-girded for fights in any political arena. The M billion-a•year industry uses its financial resources ta fund congres- sianal campaigns and studies and I ~ that support its legialative But networking is the real source of the food lobby's power. Food man- as general counsel and William C. MacLeod as outside counsel. Food companies clashed with the FDA's reform-minded commiseioner, David A. Kessler, and they reached compromises with his agency on sev- eral labeling issuea. The FTC, which guverns food ad- vertiaing largely on a case-by-cae basia, is considered by eotwtmer grenps to be more paaive than the FDA, but has become more aggres- sive in recent years. FTC Chairtnan Janet D. Steiger launched the cur- rent food advertising flap when she told an ad group Dec. 9 that ahe had assigned her staff to recommend ways for the cotnmission to "furnw- nize' advertising and labetlag rules. The industry already had begun lobbying in unofficial meetings with the FTC staff and commissioners, an industry official said. Put formally in a Feb. 8 ietter to Steiger, the GMA wants a declared, but not legally binding policy for advertising, treat- ing it diHerently fran labeling. Different routes have been taken by the industry to press its case since last fall. GMA and the Associ- ation of National Advertisen repeat- edly have visited and phoned FTC o£ficials, commiaaion sources said. Kraft and Kellogg Co. officials have spoken to a top FTC aide at confer- encea. And trade commissioner Ro.- coe B. Starek III accepted invitations to give speeches on this and other subjects to the GMA, Independent Bakers Association, National Food Processors Association and Attter- ican Advertising Federation. He said he did not take a fee or travel ex- penses for the events. GMA spokesaun Jeffrey Nedel- man said the industry is 'lvorking closely with the FTC to reach a fair and reasonable approach" that rec- ognizts the differences between !a- bela and ads and still allows food manufacturers to distinguish their products from those of their rivals. "If you start cluttering up ads with disdaimers and announcers talking real fast, fammutg in a kx of infor- tmtion like a bank ad for a car loan, no one is going to remember it " he said. "Consumen don't need the fed- eral government to tell them the Jol- ly Green Giant isn't reaL When theyre in the store, they can read the label " In the Bertolli ad, he said, it is more important to emphasize the relative health benefits of olive oil than to disclose its high fat content. Consumers either know that all cook- ing oil is 100 percent fat or they can study the label in the store, he said. But according to Silverglade, by the time many tronsunters are in the store it often is too late. He said that advertising conveys the first and .laating image of goods for most cus- tomers who do not scrutinize the labels. Taking the lead for consumer groups, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is seeking FTC reg- ulations that are legally binding and adoption of the FDA's standard for health and nutrition claims in label- ing, except for such technical re- quirements as type size. "The industry is trymg to recoup in food advertising what it lost in food labeling," said Silverglade, a former FTC staff attorney. "The PTC's failure to harmonize food ad- vertising policy threatens to com- pletely undermine the health benefits derived from the FDA's reforms." t