FDA Considers Revamping Food Labeling

It's all about being healthy

The Food and Drug Administration will “encourage” manufacturers to post nutritional information, including calorie counts, on the front of food packages. In addition to front labeling, pressure will be put on manufactures to adjust misleading portion sizes. The new labeling, however, will be voluntary.

“If you put on a meaningful portion size, it would scare a lot of people,” said Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina. “They would see, ‘I’m going to get 300 calories from that, or 500 calories.’ ”

Currently the standard serving size shown on a food package determines all the other nutritional values on the label, including calorie counts. For years, the FDA has permitted food manufactures to mislead consumers by allowing companies to grossly misrepresent, distort or understate serving sizes so calorie and sodium contents appear lower, deliberately rendering nutritional information more favorable than it may actually be.

For instance, per serving salt counts on so-called “Heart Healthy” soups are based on a 1/2 serving size — the information is misleading at a quick glance, and a full bowl would contain half the daily salt allowance recommended for people with high blood pressure. For ice cream, the serving size is based on a half a cup, and for most Kiddie breakfast cereals, the serving size is listed as three-quarters of a cup.