According to FDA guidelines, eggs can be considered “healthy”.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (WRIC) – You may already have eggs in your kitchen, but did you know that they aren’t technically considered a “healthy” food? However, that could soon change thanks to new federal regulations.

In September, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed updated criteria to define “healthy” foods to better align with current science and dietary guidelines. The new definition will look at how all the nutrients in food work together to contribute to a healthy diet and overall health.

According to the proposed definition, a “healthy” meal should contain a “significant” amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups recommended by the Dietary Guidelines — such as fruits, vegetables, or dairy — and have certain limits for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar.

One of the biggest changes to the proposed definitions of “healthy” foods is the removal of the restriction on dietary cholesterol levels, which in the past kept some high-fat foods off the list.

With these new definitions, more foods will be eligible to use the “healthy” label on the label, including nuts and seeds, fatty fish like salmon, some oils and, of course, eggs.

In the instructions published in 2016. the FDA noted the scientific understanding of nutrition has changed since “healthy” was first defined in 1993. The changes include adding “good fats” such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to reduce the risk of certain diseases.

The FDA is also in the process of developing a symbol which can be applied to food packaging to easily show consumers its “healthy” status.

The proposed definition has not yet been formulated.

The Hill’s Joseph Choi contributed to this report.