Consumers have more access to information about food than they ever have had before, and there are some much-needed improvements coming down the food information highway.
The Food and Drug Administration in March proposed changes to the Nutrition Fact Panel (NFP), changes that are a long time coming. Serving sizes have changed dramatically in the past 20 years, the last time the NFP was updated. Take, for example, that the average size of a hamburger has increased from 3.9 ounces in 1955 to 12 ounces in 2006, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over the same period, the average weight for a man climbed from 166.3 pounds to 194.7 pounds.
One of the important proposed label changes will be updating the serving sizes to be more realistic with what Americans actually eat, versus what they should be eating. A mother with kids in tow at a busy supermarket rarely has time for either reading a label or calculating whether the serving size and calories are appropriate. Consumers, even those with plenty of uninterrupted time to shop, are often hard pressed to figure out whether a product is nutritionally beneficial or not. The updated NFP would require packaged foods that are typically eaten in one seating to be labeled as a single serving, and calorie and nutrient information would be declared for the entire package. Large food packages that could be eaten in one or multiple occasions would need to include “dual column” labels that indicate both “per serving” and “per package” calories and nutrient information.
Another important change will be the inclusion of “added sugars” to the label, meaning consumers will have an easier time making an informed food choice. Health experts recommend consuming fewer calories from added sugar because they can decrease the intake of nutrient-rich foods.
Critics of the proposed NFP changes and reformulations may cry foul at the estimated USD 2.3 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) price tag of making these changes. Others could argue that the obesity rate in America continues to increase — now more than one third of U.S. adults are obese — despite the increasing prevalence of food nutritional and benefit information.
Consumer behavior is difficult to change, but increased information at some point has to lead to more healthful consumers. An increased focus on teaching children about healthful eating habits and exercise is one of a handful of tactics to eventually changing consumer behavior. The public comment period on the Nutrition Facts Panel changes is open until June 2, and comments can be submitted here.
