Milling & Baking News - October 04, 2022 - 12

WHITE HOUSE
White House hunger conference
addresses labeling, SNAP funds
WASHINGTON - The White House conference
on hunger, nutrition and health
held Sept. 28 set forth a goal to end hunger
in America and increase healthy eating
and physical activity by 2030 so fewer
Americans will experience diet-related
diseases. It marked the first White House
conference on hunger, nutrition and
health since the Nixon administration
held one over 50 years ago. Several issues
affecting the food industry, including
front-of-package labeling, voluntary
sodium reduction targets and potential
voluntary added sugar reduction targets
were addressed during the event. Investing
in school meals and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
also was covered.
" That single conference and the laws it
inspired led to transformational change
that has helped millions of Americans live
healthier lives for generations, " President
Joe Biden said of the previous conference.
" Since that time advances in research and
medicine have taught us so much more
about nutrition and health. Today, I'm
convening this conference again because
I believe we can use these advances to do
even more to make America a stronger
and healthier nation. "
The conference introduced five pillars:
increasing food access and affordability,
giving consumers access to healthy food
choices such as front-of-package labeling,
integrating nutrition and health, supporting
physical activity, and enhancing
nutrition and food security research.
The US Health and Human Services
and the Food and Drug Administration
within the HHS will conduct research and
propose developing a standardized frontof-package
labeling system to help consumers
" quickly and easily " identify foods
that are part of a healthy eating pattern.
The HHS also will assess evidence for
further strategies to reduce added sugar
consumption, collaborating with the US
Department of Agriculture to hold a public
meeting. Action could include developing
voluntary added sugar reduction
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targets for food categories, which would
be similar to voluntary targets the FDA
already developed for sodium.
" As the administration proceeds, we
urge against implementing policies that
may inadvertently hurt consumers,
especially in the volatile economic environment
that has caused a spike in the
cost to manufacture grocery products, "
said Sarah Gallo, vice president of product
policy for the Consumer Brands Association.
" Focusing on incentive-based and
voluntary initiatives, such as voluntary
interpretive front-of-pack labeling
schemes that are fully backed by extensive
research, has the potential to positively
affect our shared hunger, nutrition
and health policy goals.
" We look forward to continued collaboration
on solutions that prioritize consumer
needs in the fight for a healthier
America. "
MORE MONEY FOR SNAP
The conference set forth goals to
increase access to school meals, provide
summer electronic benefits transfer benefits
(P-EBT) to more children and expand
SNAP eligibility. Over 36 million children
received Summer P-EBT benefits in 2021.
The administration also will seek to
expand online shopping in the Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
The administration will push Congress to
permanently extend the child tax credit
and expanded earned income tax credit.
Other goals are to raise the minimum
wage to $15 per hour and invest in childcare.
One
in 10 US households in 2021 experienced
food insecurity, meaning their
access to food was limited by lack of
money or other resources.
" In every country in this world, in
every state in this country, no matter what
else divides us, if a parent cannot feed a
child, there's nothing else that matters to
the parent, " President Biden said.
Consumers who lack access to food
outlets that sell healthier food tend to
President Joe Biden speaks at the first White
House conference on hunger, nutrition and
health in over 50 years.
Medicare program. The administration
supports legislation to create a pilot to
test covering medically tailored meals for
consumers in traditional Medicare who
have diet-related health conditions.
To support physical activity, the
administration will expand the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention's state
physical activity and nutrition program
to all states and territories. To enhance
nutrition and food security research,
funding will be used to improve metrics,
data collection and research to inform
nutrition and food security policy.
" Today's release of the strategy is just
the beginning, " said Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack. " The recommendations
made in the Biden-Harris national
strategy on hunger, nutrition and health
are significant and will require ongoing
work to implement and execute on the
proposals.
" The strategy lays out big goals, and
we need everyone - local, state, and
tribal governments, Congress, private
MILLING & BAKING NEWS 11
be lower income, Black or Hispanic, live
in rural areas, and are concentrated
geographically in the South. The administration
will promote transit, bicycle and
pedestrian improvements to support food
access.
To integrate nutrition and health, the
administration will work with Congress
to create medically tailored meals for the
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Milling & Baking News - October 04, 2022

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