The US FDA has delayed the date of the final rule on what can be labeled as “healthy” on product packaging in response to US President Donald Trump’s agency freeze on issuing rulings, according to government documentation.

A notice signed by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the final decision will be delayed by two months until the end of April.

Last year, the FDA finalized a rule to update the nutritional requirements food items must meet to claim on their packaging that they are “healthy.” However, in January, US President Donald Trump issued a notice for a “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” which ordered all executive departments to halt implementing new rules until agency heads were appointed.

Postponing the decision

Trump also ordered agencies to postpone the effective date of any pending or proposed rules so they could be reviewed. 

“With respect to rules that have been published in the Federal Register but have not taken effect, the memorandum orders Agencies to consider postponing the rules’ effective dates for 60 days (until April 28, 2025) for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise,” says Kennedy Jr’s notice. 

“In accordance with this direction, FDA is delaying the effective date of the final rule ‘Food Labeling: Nutrient Content Claims; Definition of Term ‘Healthy’ (89 FR 106064), until April 28, 2025.”

Kennedy Jr. has been critical of the FDA in the past and accused it of waging a war on public health. He has said he wants to remove thousands of chemicals and colorings from foods in the US.

Empowering US consumers

The FDA’s “healthy” labeling change would mark the first updat to the term in over 30 years and impose stricter limits on items like saturated fat, added sugars, and sodium. Foods like salmon, some oils, and water, which were previously unable to bear the healthy label, could now qualify.

Meanwhile, some yogurts and other dairy products that previously qualified could fall foul of the new rules due to their high salt or sugar content. The updates are part of the FDA’s plan to “empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices.”  

According to the government, around 5% of all packaged foods in the US are labeled “healthy.” Because nutrition science has evolved, the FDA wants to updat the definition to align more closely with the latest research. 

Last year, the not-for-profit organization the Environmental Working Group called the FDA’s plans “a step in the right direction” but said the updated rules fail to fully address the growing crisis of “preventable, diet-related chronic diseases in the US.”