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(Reuters) - The United States plans a major overhaul of the way packaged foods are labelled, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday. Serving sizes will be adjusted to reflect how much people actually eat, and for the first time labels will list added sugars.

These are the first significant changes since the Nutrition Facts label was introduced more than 20 years ago. They come as an increasing number of Americans battle obesity, diabetes and heart disease and will affect roughly 800,000 products from Coca-Cola and ice-cream to soup and spaghetti sauce.

Speaking at a health summit in Washington, First Lady Michelle Obama said she was “thrilled” about the new label and said she believes it is going to make “a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices.” Her “Let’s Move!” initiative aims to increase the health of young people.

Manufacturers have until July 2018 to comply with the new rule. Small businesses with fewer than $10 million in annual sales have an additional year to comply. The FDA, which first proposed the rule in 2014, estimated at the time that the cost to industry of updating the labels would be about $2 billion.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the world’s biggest food and drink companies, said the changes were “timely,” as diets and eating patterns have changed dramatically over the past two decades.

“Food and beverage manufacturers have responded by creating more than 30,000 healthier product choices since 2002,” Dr Leon Bruner, GMA’s chief science officer, said in a statement.

Under the new rules, companies will have to provide details on the amount of added sugar such as corn syrup and white and brown sugar.

The Sugar Association, which represents US sugar cane farmers, refiners, sugar beet farmers and processors, said it was “disappointed” at the requirement to list added sugars on the label and said the FDA had not demonstrated a scientific link between sugar and disease.

Information about calories from fat will be removed because research shows the type of fat is more important than the amount, the FDA said.

The new rules require serving sizes on the label to reflect what, on average, consumers actually eat. About 20 per cent of all package labels will be adjusted, the FDA said. Some, such as ice-cream will be adjusted upwards, while others, such as yogurt, will be adju wards.

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