FDA calls for nutrition label revamp
With more Americans paying attention to nutrition labels than ever before, the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) is using the opportunity to give labels a makeover this year.
The non-profit association, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), has been advocating the food label changes for years hoping to make them easier to understand for the average consumer.
For example, did you know that food companies don’t distinguish between added sugar and natural sugar content? They simply report the total sugars, which makes it hard for consumers to identify if the sugar levels are harmful or not.
The American Heart Association says that this is an important factor because the body does not need any excess added sugars to function. The new labels will have a separate line that distinguishes added and natural sugar content.
The director of nutrition policy at CSPI, Margo Wootan, said in a statement, “This is a chance to make (the labels) better and help make it easier for people to choose healthier options.”
Among CSPI’s requests to the FDA are bigger, bolder fonts for calorie count and a larger ingredient list with better spacing. They also want to keep the consumer from having to do a lot of math while calculating their calories.
Studies show that people who read nutrition labels tend to be healthier overall. And more and more are cluing into this trend. Experts have found that there has been an increase in the number of people who are reading the labels.
There are no official layouts for the updated labels as of yet, but the FDA hopes to have them in the public eye soon.
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These labels can be as accurate as possible, yet still people draw the wrong conclusions. The problem with the FDA criteria is that they are scientifically dubious in certain aspects, at least in one respect: people need to be educated about most: that fat does not generate fat. Carbohydrates (sugars, starch etc.) do. Carbohydrates are processed in our bodies, then used as an energy source either right away, or, if we eat more calories than we needed in that day, are stored as fat. Only the carbohydrates are the source of body fats. All fats can only be burnt up as energy or else be discharged again. They cannot be stored. This is the single most important factor the FDA needed to clarify to get people to eat healthier. While a balanced diet is always the best choice, the current low-fat craze actually leads to the massive increase in obesity we see today.