Nutrition Label Overhauled
SPRINGFIELD — For the first time in 20 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has revised and finalized changes to the Nutrition Facts Label.
That black and white rectangle label on packed foods will have a new format that will incorporate recent updates in nutrition science, and draw attention to calories and serving sizes.
“In general, the changes to the label are meant to aid Americans in making healthier food choices,” said Dr. Pam Duitsman, nutrition and health specialist, University of Missouri Extension.
The “serving size” and “servings per container” will be listed in a larger font, and will now be more realistic, to represent what people are actually eating.
For instance, yogurt will be six ounces instead of eight ounces. This will make it easier to determine how many calories are in commonly-consumed servings.
The calorie count is listed in bigger and bolder font.
“Calories from fat” will be removed. Recent research shows that the type of fat is much more important for health than total fat consumed. The grams of fat, saturated fat and trans fat will still be listed.
A new row for “Added Sugars” will help differentiate between total and added sugars, so consumers will be able to tell how much sugar has been added during processing.
“It becomes difficult to meet nutrient needs, and also stay within calorie limits, if more than 10 percent of total daily calories comes from added sugars,” said Duitsman. “Also, we know that consuming sugar-sweetened foods and beverages is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases.”
Americans are encouraged to decrease their intake of added sugars, and replace those calories with healthier, more nutrient-dense foods.
“It should now be easier to make more informed decisions by identifying foods that have higher levels of added sugars; and also recognize that some foods like milk and fruit contain natural sugars, but are healthier choices because they are loaded with other nutrients,” said Duitsman.
The actual amount of calcium, iron, potassium and vitamin D will all now be listed on the label since the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee considers them to be “under consumed.”
Consumers will be able to more easily identify food sources of these nutrients. Manufacturers can voluntarily declare the gram amount for other vitamins and minerals if they choose.
Daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber, and vitamin D are being updated based on newer scientific evidence from the Institute of Medicine and other expert reports. Daily values are reference amounts of nutrients to consume or not to exceed and are used to calculate the percent Daily Value that manufacturers place on the label.
A new footnote on the label will explain what percent Daily Value means. It will read: “*The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.”
“Daily Values are best used to compare different products — for example, fiber in breakfast cereals,” said Duitsman.
FDA is giving food manufacturers two years to implement these changes. The deadline is July 26, 2018, except for smaller companies with less than $10 million in annual food sales, which will have an additional year.
The label will be on nearly 800,000 food products nationwide, with regulations applying to packaged foods except certain meat, poultry, and processed egg products, which are regulated by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The regional office of the Family Nutrition Education Program is located in Springfield and can be reached at (417) 886-2059. Nutrition information is also available online http:// extension.missouri.edu.