FDA proposes new food labels detailing sugar, fat, and salt content

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed requiring new nutrition labels on the front of food and beverage products. This is a long-awaited measure aimed at changing eating habits as obesity and diet-related diseases soar, each of which is responsible for one million deaths. year.

The new label is a small black and white box similar to the Nutrition Facts box on the back of packaged products, allowing consumers to quickly understand which products contain excessive amounts of sugar, salt and saturated fat. It is designed to be possible. These three nutrients are believed to be responsible for the rapid rise in type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure in the country.

According to the FDA, more than 60% of American adults suffer from these three chronic diseases, and annual health care costs are estimated to be $4.5 trillion.

In contrast to the mandatory back-of-pack Nutrition Facts panel, which lists a product's ingredients, calorie count, and serving size, front-of-pack labels indicate high, medium, and low sugar, fat, and salt content. or rank low. It indicates whether the amount is above or below the recommended daily intake set by the FDA.

“Nearly everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic illness, and food is in part responsible for that,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a statement. “The time has come for consumers to see it, pick it up and use it right away.”

The proposal is based on a three-year study by government scientists who examined front-of-pack labels used in other countries. After reviewing research on the effectiveness of these labels, FDA tested future designs with focus groups to determine whether the information conveyed was easy to understand.

The agency said the proposed new label received the highest score among the 10,000 people who participated in the focus group.

If the rule is finalized, food businesses will have up to four years to comply. It is unclear whether these policies will continue under the next Trump administration.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, has vowed to transform the way Americans eat, vocalizing the growing reliance on ultra-processed foods.

Nutrition experts said they were generally satisfied with the look and content of the new labels. Some expressed disappointment that labels did not carry stronger warnings if products contained unhealthy levels of salt, sugar or saturated fat. Some people pressured the FDA to also include information about calories.

“This proposal is a real step in our efforts to better inform consumers,” said Peter Lurie, executive director of the Science Center. I wish they had chosen the nutrition warning format, which is more likely.” Public Interest Group, an advocacy group that first petitioned the FDA to adopt front-of-pack labels in 2006.

Food and drink companies criticized the new rules, saying they would have preferred their own version of the voluntary labeling system introduced in 2011, called Fact Up Front.

Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association, which represents many companies, said in a statement that the proposed labels would include information on the number of calories and whether the product contains high levels, which are key to a healthy diet. It said it lacked important information, such as whether it contained nutrients.

“FDA's proposed rule regarding front-of-pack nutrition labeling appears to be based on an opaque methodology and a disregard for industry input and cooperation,” Gallo said.

The announcement, made in the waning days of the Biden administration, follows two decades of pressure from nutritionists, doctors, and public health advocates to help consumers make healthier choices as they navigate their way through the pandemic. It has long called for the federal government to take a more active role. supermarket aisle.

The new front-of-pack rules complement other recent efforts by FDA to improve the public's diet. Last month, the agency updated its definition of the term “healthy” on food labels, tightening limits on saturated fat, sugar and salt in foods. In August, the FDA issued voluntary guidelines requiring food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sodium in processed and packaged products.

Experts say requiring front-of-pack labels could also encourage food manufacturers to reformulate products with high levels of unhealthy nutrients.

“If you're a retailer selling something slightly above the threshold, there's a lot of incentive to take some of the sugar out of your breakfast cereal and avoid putting it on a high-priced label,” says director Anna. Mr. Grammont says. “It’s a win for consumers,” according to the Stanford Food Policy Institute.

Many studies have highlighted the limitations of nutrition facts panels introduced in the mid-1990s. Lauren Fichtner, director of nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital Children's Hospital, said many Americans, especially those with lower levels of education, find existing labels difficult to understand. Research shows that what's most confusing is that labels list the ingredient's percentage of the recommended daily intake.

“When I'm rushing through the aisles of the grocery store with two young children in tow, it's difficult to turn over every package and understand the labels, but this is my job,” Dr. Fishtner said. “Consumers want to be informed, but the information needs to be kept simple.”

Since Chile became the first country in 2016 to require packaged food companies to prominently display a black warning logo on the front of their packages, more than a dozen countries have adopted similar labels. Those include Canada, Australia, Ecuador and the United Kingdom, according to the World Food Research Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nancy Glick, director of food and nutrition policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said research has shown that so-called interpretive labels influence consumer behavior. “These labels work, and we've found that people really want them,” she said.

Zach Froelich, a history professor at Auburn University and author of “From the Label to the Table: Regulating American Food in the Information Age,” has a somewhat cynical view of the new labels. He noted that in the past, the food industry has found ways to adapt to labeling requirements by reformulating products in ways that are not necessarily healthy for consumers.

As an example, he said, manufacturers of ultra-processed foods could be able to avoid the “high” label by replacing added sugar with artificial sweeteners. But reformulating doesn't make the product any healthier, he said.

“It's very difficult to create a perfect labeling system that doesn't cause problems or unintended consequences,” he said. “There are well-intentioned actors in the food industry who actually use these labels to make their products healthier, but there are also malicious actors who tweak processed foods to make them look better on the label. There are a lot of people out there, but that's actually the winner.'' It doesn't fit the spirit that the FDA and public health experts are looking for. ”