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CNN
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests putting nutrition labels on the front of packaged foods to provide at-a-glance information about saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.
“This proposal plays a key role in the agency’s nutrition priorities, part of a government-wide effort to address the nation’s chronic disease crisis,” the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.
The proposed label, also called a Nutrition Facts Box, would break down information about sodium, added sugars and saturated fat content by indicating whether the food contains a “low,” “medium” or “high” level of nutrients. The nutritional labeling on the back of the products would be retained and supplement the information on the front of the label.
A few different design options were tested in a representative sample of U.S. adults to find out which type of packaging gave consumers a “quicker and more accurate assessment” of products, the agency said, and the proposed option performed best in most cases away.
“Participants gave more correct answers regarding the usefulness of the product than the other systems tested and also spent significantly less time evaluating the nutrient profile of the product,” said Dr. Robin McKinnon, deputy director of the FDA’s Nutrition Center of Excellence, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Products that contain at least 20% of the Daily Value of a nutrient would be considered “high,” 5% or less would be “low,” and the remainder would fall into the “medium” category.
The agency said 60% of Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, such as heart disease and diabetes, and that “excessive consumption of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars” is a major contributing factor.
“The science on saturated fat, sodium and added sugars is clear,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf in a statement. “Almost everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic illness that is caused in part by the food we eat. It’s time we made it easier for consumers to take a look, grab and go. This would be accomplished by adding nutrition labeling to the front of most packaged foods. We are committed to using every lever available to the FDA to make nutrition information easily accessible as part of our efforts to promote public health.”
Comments on the proposal are open until May 16.
Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, called the proposal “a step forward” but noted that “a serious blind spot is the proportion of whole grains versus refined grains.”
“From a metabolic and health perspective, refined starch is similar to sugar, and on average we consume more refined starch than sugar,” Willett said in an email.
Willett would like to see grams of fiber or whole grains on the front of the package, but says more consumer testing is needed and this “should not impede implementation of the proposed labeling.”
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Nancy Brown, executive director of the American Heart Association, said the proposal would simplify nutritional information and help consumers shop for healthier foods.
“By proposing front-of-pack labeling in the United States, the FDA is taking an important step to make nutrition information clearer and more accessible and to empower consumers to make informed decisions for their health and that of their families,” she said in a statement. “For decades, the Nutrition Facts label has been an essential tool for educating people across the country about the nutritional content of their food and beverages, but high rates of diet-related illnesses continue to demonstrate the need for additional action to address the confusing barriers consumers face Evaluating and identifying better options.”
If passed, the regulation would require large food manufacturers to display the nutritional information box on most of their packaged foods three years after it comes into force. Food manufacturers with annual food sales of less than $10 million are expected to comply within four years.
CNN’s Sandee LaMotte contributed to this report.
