WASHINGTON - Following two years and six delayed descisions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled against a health claim for lycopene and reduced risk of cancer, instead allowing a number of heavily-qualified health claims for lycopene and risk of gastric, prostate, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Several petitioners for the health claim formed a coalition to support a new bill introduced into the House of Representatives that would loosen FDA''s restrictions and powers over such health claims. One petitioner, American Longevity, further vowed to file a First Amendment infingement suit against FDA.
FDA decided there was not enough scientific eveidence linking tomatoes, tomatoe-based products and the antioxidant carotenoid lycopene to a reduced risk of cancer. Even in approving several qualified health claims, the agency excluded tomatoe-based products and lycopene supplements, while indicating tomatoes and tomatoe sauce had limited scientific eveidence of risk reduction for various cancers.
