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July 28, 2011<\/p>\n
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Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org<\/p>\n
Washington, DC<\/strong>\u2013The National Consumers League (NCL) today sent a letter to Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling on her agency to review the misleading nutrition facts labeling of David Sunflower Seed products, manufactured by ConAgra Foods, Inc.<\/p>\n \u201cThe David Sunflower Seed nutrition panel is terribly misleading,\u201d said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. \u201cThe sodium listed is for the kernels only \u2013 not for the whole seed. But the back of the package instructs consumers to put the whole seed in their mouth, and in the process, they consume far more sodium than indicated on the panel.\u201d<\/p>\n The fine print on the package, tucked below the list of ingredients, makes clear that when calculating the salt content of both the seed and the shell, the sodium count rises 833% to 1260mg of sodium per serving. A 5.25-ounce bag has 2.5 servings. Consuming a single 5.25 bag would mean a sodium intake of 3,150 mg. Current dietary guidelines recommend that healthy adults should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. Thus, consuming a single 5.25-ounce bag of sunflower seeds would put one\u2019s sodium intake at 850 mg over the recommended daily amounts.<\/p>\n NCL\u2019s letter asks the agency to require the company to indicate a far higher content than is currently listed for sodium and to do so in the place where consumers expect to find it.<\/p>\n \u201cThese David Sunflower seeds, when consumed in the way the package recommends, are loaded with sodium. Excessive sodium intake is a leading cause of hypertension or high blood pressure. Hypertension, in turn, greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two out of three (66%) adults in the United States are at especially high risk for health problems from too much sodium \u2013 three groups in particular are at risk: those over 40 years old, African Americans and those with high blood pressure. CDC recommends eating less sodium as a means of preventing, lowering or controlling blood pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cWith so many Americans suffering from hypertension or pre-hypertension, we need clear and accurate labeling of products so consumers can make healthy choices. We call on the FDA to require that David Sunflower Seed packages indicate clearly \u2013 in the place where consumers expect to find it – the sodium content in the seeds and not simply in the kernel.\u201d<\/p>\n