WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Food & Drug Administration today released its long-awaited proposal requiring food manufacturers to put certain nutritional information on the front of products instead of listing it only on the back.
Dr. Cecil Bennett, a primary care physician in Georgia, tells us that during his two-decade career in medicine, he has seen an increasing rate of patients developing high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes.
A lot of the reasons we are at increased risk of these disease processes have to do with the foods we eat,” Dr. Bennett said.
To encourage Americans to make healthier choices, the FDA is proposing adding nutrition labels to the front of packages. Focus on three main areas.
“Look at the sodium content of foods. Look at the sugar content and decide whether they are healthy or not,” Dr Bennett said.
The label would list the percentage of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars in the product and also classify it as high, medium or low.
“It’s just another way to give consumers information about what we consume every day,” Dr. Bennett said.
Diego Rose, director of the nutrition program at Tulane University, tells us that these high, medium and low concentrations are determined by the daily value.
“Foods that are above those that contain more than 20%, say, of the daily value of sodium, would be considered high and if they are between 6 and 19% they are average, and if they are 5% or less, they are low,” Rose said. .
Rose says the labels won’t replace the ones on the back. But instead give Americans a clearer understanding of the nutritional characteristics of each product in a simplistic way.
“They can look at this product and that product and see which one is going to be best for them health-wise,” Rose said.
Ultimately, it will be up to the Trump administration to decide whether and how to finalize the rule. After that, large food companies making more than $10 million a year will have three years to comply. Small businesses will benefit from an additional year.
