In an effort to assist Americans in quickly making healthier decisions, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed a new regulation for nutrition labeling on packaged foods and beverages.
Food makers will have to show the amounts of saturated fat, salt, and added sugar on the front of the container in addition to the usual nutrition labels on the back under the new law, which consumers may notice as early as 2028.
According to Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, packaged foods in the United States frequently have a variety of health and nutrition claims, making it difficult for consumers to determine what is healthy or unhealthy.
According to Smith Taillie, fruit drinks, for instance, may feature high vitamin C content on the front of the bottle, giving the impression that they are a healthy option, but they are actually packed with added sugar.
It is believed that by putting specific dietary facts in front of customers, they will be more inclined to make selections that are health-conscious.
During a call with reporters, FDA assistant deputy director for human food policy Rebecca Buckner stated, “We believe that food should be a vehicle for wellness, not a contributor of chronic disease.”
The FDA’s proposed front-of-package label will state if the amounts of added sugars, salt, and saturated fat are “low,” “medium,” or “high.”
FDA officials claimed that the label they ultimately chose was supported by scientific evidence, including a number of studies, consumer focus groups, and an agency-led study that examined the reactions of almost 10,000 adults to a number of potential designs.
According to studies, the three nutrients—saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar—were selected because they are major causes of chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, according to Buckner.
Dr. Yian Gu, a nutrition epidemiologist at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, stated, “I believe people want to know this information to help them make good decisions.”
Gu stated that more work needs to be done to educate people about their nutrition because the more information won’t be very helpful if they don’t understand how particular nutrients, like saturated fat, might affect their health.
The FDA’s proposal coincides with the high prevalence of chronic diseases linked to food in the United States, including heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States, taking one life out of every five. Approximately 10% of Americans suffer with diabetes, primarily Type 2. Additionally, the CDC estimates that 2 out of 5 persons are obese.
According to Gu, these illnesses are not a random occurrence. People won’t pay attention to all of this nutrition if they don’t understand the science behind it.
The FDA has stated that the front-of-package labels would not be implemented immediately. Following a 120-day comment period, the agency may finalize the new rule or make additional modifications to the proposal.
According to the government, big food producers will have three years from the time the rule is finalized to modify the majority of their products. Smaller producers will have an extra year to put the measures into effect.
According to Buckner, the new regulations may force food manufacturers to rework their goods in order to bring them into the “low” or “medium” categories, even though that was not the FDA’s original intention for the food labeling.
The FDA is contemplating systems with arbitrary scales and symbols that could confuse customers, according to the Consumer Brands Association, an industry trade organization that has opposed the required labeling.
“Instead, the group has pushed the agency to work on industry-led initiatives like Facts Up Front, which allows food manufacturers to voluntarily summarize important nutrition information like calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars on the front of packaging,” said Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association, in a statement. According to Gallo, the sector has also used SmartLabel, which enables customers to obtain comprehensive nutritional data using QR codes.
Will the labels affect consumers habits?
At least outside of the United States, the idea of placing nutrition information on the front of packages is not new.Similar policies have been put in place in dozens of nations, including the UK, Mexico, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand.
In order to warn consumers about high quantities of sugar, saturated fat, and other potentially dangerous substances, Chile implemented required labeling on the front of packaging in 2016.
Brazil likewise made product front-of-package labels mandatory in 2022.
According to research, labels do affect what consumers in those nations purchase, said Colleen Tewksbury, an assistant professor of nutrition science at the University of Pennsylvania.
She said, though, that similar results might not be readily applicable in the United States, where customers like independence and don’t want to be instructed what to do.
She claimed that consumers who were already looking to modify their purchasing habits were frequently the ones who did so.
According to Tewksbury, research shows that having extremely basic labeling on the front of packaging does draw attention, but the second step is to see if it alters consumers’ purchasing habits. We are unsure if it will have a significant effect on people’s buying patterns.
Considering that the design of the new label is identical to what is already on the rear of food packaging, Smith Taillie of the University of North Carolina questioned if it would encourage people to make healthier decisions.
Additionally, she stated that the front-of-package label’s inclusion of the % daily value and a low-to-high ranking system may confuse consumers.
Customers may believe a product is healthier than it actually is if it has a low-sugar label even though it doesn’t normally include sugar, she added.
Furthermore, products with modest serving sizes, such as salty potato chips, are unlikely to receive the high designation, Smith Tallie warned, giving consumers a misleading sense about their healthfulness.