The food label was mandated about 20 years ago, and now it's finally getting a "makeover."
The new labels would reflect modern knowledge of the link between diet and serious health concerns such as heart disease and obesity, an FDA news release reported.
"Obesity, heart disease and other chronic diseases are leading public health problems," Michael Landa, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in the news release. "The proposed new label is intended to bring attention to calories and serving sizes, which are important in addressing these problems. Further, we are now proposing to require the listing of added sugars. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends reducing calories from added sugars and solid fats."
"The goal is to make people aware of what they are eating and give them the tools to make healthy dietary choices throughout the day," Jessica Leighton, Ph.D., senior nutrition science and policy advisor in FDA's Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine, said in the news release.
One important change will be a bolder font used for displaying calories.
"The number of calories is especially important to maintaining a healthy weight," Leighton said.
"Added sugars" (which account for 16 percent of the daily calories consumed by the average American) will be added to the label for the first time. "Calories from fat" would be removed from the label, but saturated fat and trans fat will still be listed.
"We know that the type of fat is more important than the total amount of fat," Jessica Leighton, Ph.D., senior nutrition science and policy advisor in FDA's Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine, said in the news release.
The number of servings per package would be more easy to spot and "Amount Per Serving," would have the actual serving size listing. The serving size would be adjusted to realistic standards.
The daily values of various nutrients would be updated and listing the amounts of potassium and Vitamin D would be required.
"It's all about providing information that people can use to make their own choices." Kavanaugh said.
