FDA Proposes Front-of-Food Nutrition Labels – No Calories

It may soon be harder to ignore the nutritional red flags in your favorite junk food.

This week, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled a long-awaited proposal that would require food and beverage manufacturers to display nutrition labels on the front of most of their packages, with the goal of helping shoppers make better choices. healthy as they walk through the grocery store aisles. .

“It’s time to make it easier for consumers to look, grab and go,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a statement. “Adding front-of-pack nutrition labeling to most packaged foods would do that.â€

Under the proposal, front-of-package labels would indicate how much of the recommended daily intake of these three nutrients is in one serving and whether the food is “low,” “moderate” or “high” in each.

The labels would take the form of a black-and-white box — a design chosen after a 2023 FDA study found it helped people make faster and more accurate decisions about a food’s health than styles other labels.

The front label would not replace the existing, more detailed nutrition facts on the back of packages, but would act as a supplement to them, according to the FDA.

It will depend on the incoming Trump administration whether to finalize the proposal.

Peter G. Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, welcomed the move, calling it “long overdue.” He said this could encourage healthier consumer choices, push companies to produce healthier products and help combat growth. waves of preventable diseases in the United States.

The reception from the food and beverage industry was cooler.

“FDA’s proposed front-of-package food labeling rule appears to be based on opaque methodology and disregard for industry input and cooperation,” said Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Brand Association. of the Customer. which represents the main manufacturers of packaged goods.

The proposed labels are part of a larger, government-wide push to curb diet-related chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer — the leading causes of death in the US and significant drivers of health care spending.

A large body of evidence shows that a major culprit in increasing these conditions is excessive consumption of sodium, saturated fat and added sugars.

President-elect Donald Trump has made fighting chronic disease a top health priority, and his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long fought against the use of preservatives and chemicals in American food. , urging a nationwide crackdown.

If the rule is finalized, manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales will have three years to comply, while smaller businesses will have four years.

But will these labels actually change Americans’ eating habits? The jury is still out.

When Congress passed a law in 2010 requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts, the results were mixed. A 2016 review of 38 studies found little overall impact on consumer behavior, with researchers concluding that it is not an effective tool for promoting healthier food choices.

Even if labels don’t change the way people shop or eat, there’s evidence they could push the food industry to make some changes.

Take Chile, for example: When the country passed a law requiring manufacturers to put warning labels on foods high in sodium, sugar, unhealthy fats or calories, the results were surprising.

In just one year, the percentage of sugary foods dropped from 80% to 60%, and sodium-heavy foods went from 74% to 27%, according to a 2020 study.