The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday proposed a new rule for nutrition labels on packaged foods and beverages that aims to help Americans make healthier choices.
Under the new rule, food manufacturers will be required to display on the front of food packaging the levels of saturated fat, sodium and added sugar in their products. These labels can be seen from 2028.
The information currently included on packaged foods in the United States can make it confusing for consumers to know what is good or bad for them, said Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. .
Fruit drinks, for example, may advertise high levels of vitamin C on the front of the container, making them seem like a healthy option, but at the same time, they are loaded with added sugar, Smith Taillie explained.
With the new standard, the idea is that by placing certain nutritional information in front of consumers, they will be more likely to make conscious decisions about their health.
The front label proposed by the FDA will include the amount of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars and whether those amounts are considered “low,” “medium” or “high.”
“I think people want to know this information so they can make good decisions,” said Dr. Yian Gu, a nutritional epidemiologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
However, additional information would be of little use if people are not aware of how certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, can affect their health, Gu said, adding that a better job needs to be done educating the population about nutrition.
The FDA proposal comes at a time when health experts have warned about the high rates of diet-related chronic diseases in the United States such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which represent the leading cause of death in the United States. country; one in five deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Additionally, about 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes, primarily type 2 diabetes. And about 2 in 5 adults have obesity, according to the CDC.
“These diseases do not arise out of nowhere,” Gu noted. “If people aren’t aware of the science behind this nutritional information, they won’t pay attention to it.”
Front package labels will not take effect immediately, the FDA said. The proposal includes a 120-day comment period, after which the agency can make additional changes to the proposal or finalize the new rule.
Large food manufacturing companies will have three years after the rule is finalized to make changes to most of their products, according to the agency. Smaller manufacturers will have an additional year to implement the changes.
The Consumer Brand Association, an industry trade group, has opposed mandatory labeling, saying the FDA is considering “schemes with arbitrary scales and symbols that could cause confusion among consumers.”
Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brand Association, said in a statement that the group has pushed the agency to collaborate on industry-led initiatives, including Facts Up Front, which allows manufacturers of Foods voluntarily summarize important nutritional information, such as calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, on the front of the packaging. The industry has also introduced SmartLabel, which allows consumers to access detailed nutritional information through QR codes, Gallo added.
Will labels affect consumer habits?
Putting nutrition labels on the front of packaging is not a new concept, at least outside the United States. Dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, have implemented similar measures.
In 2016, Chile introduced mandatory front-of-package labels, alerting consumers to high levels of sugar, saturated fat and other potentially harmful ingredients.
In 2022, Brazil also implemented mandatory labels on the front of packaging for grocery products.
Colleen Tewksbury, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, said research has shown that labels influence what people buy in those countries.
However, he clarified, these findings would not necessarily be seen in the United States, where “individualism” prevails and consumers do not “want to be told what to do.”
Often, he said, the people who change their purchasing behavior are the ones who were already looking to make changes.
“The research is relatively clear that having simple labels on the front of packages gets people’s attention, but the second step is whether or not it changes shopping behaviors,” Tewksbury added. people’s purchasing habits.
