The Food and Drug Administration proposed changes to the nutrition labeling on the packages of 700,000 food products yesterday. The changes are designed to:

• Make calorie counts more prominent and noticeable.
• Reflect more realistic serving sizes.
• Increase the emphasis on the amount of added sugars in foods. 

The proposed changes reflect concerns about obesity and dietary impacts on overall health and disease. The goal is to improve the quality of the American diet by increasing people’s understanding of what they eat and its impacts upon their well-being. The FDA is releasing two proposed versions of the revised nutrition food label for comments and consumer testing within the next 90 days. Food manufacturers will have two years to comply with the final requirements. The details of the proposed changes:

• Larger, bolder print for calorie count than other facts.
• Updated serving sizes as reflected by current studies. In many instances, serving sizes will be bigger than what is currently reflected on products.
• Added sugars (those not found naturally in food) will be counted as one number, making it easier for consumers to see the real amount of sugars added to food.
• Vitamins A & C are gone from the labels and are replaced by vitamin D and potassium, which is a reflection of deficiencies in the current American diet.
• “Calories from fat” will be removed from the labels but you’ll still see total fat, saturated fat and trans fat. 

New Nutrition Food labels, Proposed by the FDA

Although I expect food companies to moan and groan about the proposed changes, I believe most health experts will applaud them. My hope is that these changes will cause more people to read and use the information to eat fewer calories and better food. For years I’ve had complaints about the serving sizes listed on products. A typical 4oz. muffin was listed as two servings, even though people ate the whole muffin. A 20 oz. soda was labeled as two servings, even though a whole bottle was consumed by one person in a single serving. The new FDA guidelines address these serving size issues to more accurately reflect the amounts consumed by people today. I’ve warned of the dangers of added sugars, and like the fact that you’ll now be able to tell how much sugar has been included in canned fruits, juices and a whole variety of other products. I think making calorie count more prominent on labeling is also a good step for our society. Although I wish GMO’s were outlawed entirely, under current conditions I think it would be prudent to include GMO labeling on the new nutrition panel. I don’t believe cholesterol needs to be included as cholesterol consumption does not have a negative health impact. I also want to remind people that it’s best to eat foods without labels…foods like fresh organic vegetables, nuts, seeds, avocados, meat and seafood. Most packaged foods aren’t good for your health. I hope this new nutrition labeling guidelines help people make better, healthier food choices.