October 23/Washington/PRNewswire -- The Smart Choices Program will voluntarily postpone active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo at this time by either new or currently enrolled companies.
This move follows an announcement by FDA commissioner, Margaret Hamburg on October 20, 2009, which said that the agency intends to develop standardized criteria on which future front-of-package nutrition or shelf labeling will be based. In a letter captioned "Guidance for Industry" and posted on its website, the FDA stated, "We want to work with the food industry retailers and manufacturers alike, as well as nutrition and design experts and the Institute of Medicine, to develop an optimal, common approach to nutrition-related FOP... that all Americans can trust and use to build better diets and improve their health."