— OPINION —
The current Administration has talked a lot about “Making America Healthy Again” in the fight to reduce chronic disease. Now, the FDA has an opportunity to show that it’s serious about Americans’ health — by finalizing a rule that would require strong front-of-package nutrition labels across the food supply.
These labels would show products’ saturated fat, sodium and added sugars content on the front of the package — in addition to the Nutrition Facts panel, which appears on the side or the back.
How will this change make a difference?
Food companies currently fill the front of food packages with marketing like “Great source of Vitamin C!” and “All natural!” to try to get people to buy them. Requiring companies to provide information upfront about key nutrients to limit will help consumers more quickly and easily understand what’s actually in the products they’re buying. Front-of-package nutrition labels in other countries have helped consumers choose healthier options and encouraged the food industry to reformulate their products to be healthier.
What design has the FDA proposed?
The FDA has proposed a label design that shows the product’s percent daily value (% DV) for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars and indicates if the product is “low,” “medium,” or “high” in each nutrient. FDA’s proposed front-of-package nutrition labeling system gets a lot of things right. It would be mandatory, so food companies will have to tell consumers what’s in our food — and lets consumers know when products have high levels of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. Its focus on those three nutrients to limit is important, because most Americans consume more saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars than recommended by the Dietary Guidelines — in part because of the poor nutritional content of the packaged food supply — and it’s making us sick.
Could the proposed FDA label be better? We think so
With that being said, the FDA’s proposed system could be improved in several ways to help consumers choose healthier foods. Most other countries in the Americas use a different type of front-of-package labeling system that only displays labels on products that are “high in” key nutrients to limit; whereas FDA’s proposed system would display labels on all products. “High-In” labels have strong evidence for effectiveness at helping consumers quickly and easily choose healthier options, and they incentivize the food industry to reformulate their products to avoid having to carry a label. The FDA should consider modifying the proposed front-of package label design to reflect that evidence.
Tell the FDA to mandate evidence-based front-of-package labels that will help consumers make healthier choices.
About the author: Aviva Musicus, ScD, is the Science Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The Center was founded in 1971 by microbiologist Michael F. Jacobson and two other scientists, oceonographer James Sullivan and chemist Albert Fritsch. The Center is America’s leading food safety and nutrition advocacy organization, campaigning for early reforms such as the elimination of sulfite preservatives on fresh foods. CSPI is largely funded by subscriptions to its Nutrition Action Health letter, member contributions, and foundation grants; CSPI accepts no corporate or government donations and Nutrition Action accepts no advertising.
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