The tables are turning - nutrition tables, that is.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced new and improved requirements for nutrition label data for the first time since 1994. That's twenty years of an entrenched public understanding of identifying what you're eating - or is it?
The issue with the FDA's system to date is that calorie measurements have wiggle room of up to twenty percent - meaning that the number you're staring at on the nutrition data panel might be a full twenty percent off the true figure. Perhaps more worrying, the current system doesn't have a standardized means of measuring such information, with five approved methods allowing manufacturers to pick the one that's most suited to the marketing and sale of their product.
The current labels are twenty years old and relay data derived from a forty-year-old study, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES). Flaws riddled the NHNES study, too; the data was recorded from self-reported sources, with human error now thought to be rife in the calculations.
The new nutrition labels, presented by first lady Michelle Obama this morning, will focus on the calorie content of food stuffs, with larger labels. The labels will also, crucially, include information around added sugar. Current labels only identify sugar overall, which includes naturally occurring sugars as well as additives such as high fructose corn syrup and concentrated juices. The dangers of added sugar have become better known in recent years, with the FDA's changes reflecting the newfound knowledge.
Serving sizes will also be adjusted to be more indicative of the amounts that people actually consume, with some caloric counts set to double under the new system of measurement.
In welcoming the new labels, the first lady pointed to their relative simplicity - a key factor in interpreting the information. "You as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into your local grocery store, pick up an item off the shelf, and be able to tell whether it's good for your family," she said.
The more prominent labels are also intended to incentivize companies with less-than-stellar nutritional records to clean up their act, thus promoting the creation of healthier foods across the board.
However, promising though the changes are, the new nutritional panels won't be seen on food packaging for around two to three years. The first step to implementation is a 90-day public comment period, which the FDA will take into consideration as the final rules are crafted. When the requirements are vetted and confirmed, food manufacturers will have two years to adapt to the changes.
