New Nutrition Info Label

Within the next few months, the front of many food packages will prominently display important nutrition information, including calorie, fat and sugar content. The industrywide program was announced Monday by food makers and grocers in response from to Michelle Obama's campaign against obesity. 
The plan unveiled Monday, called Nutrition Keys, calls for the front of food packages to display a series of icons that show four basic nutrients: calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars.

The Institute of Medicine discouraged including positive nutrients on the label because they might confuse consumers and encourage manufacturers to fortify foods unnecessarily with vitamins or other ingredients.

The industry plan allows manufacturers to display as many as two "nutrients to encourage" on each package, from a list of eight - potassium, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, iron and protein.

The labeling system was developed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, a trade group that represents retailers, who often contract with food makers to create store brands. The groups said their members, which include a vast majority of food manufacturers and retailers, would begin using the new labels in the coming months. In the fall, they plan to begin a $50 million advertising campaign to promote the initiative.

Source: NYTimes

Food Label That Highlights Harmful Nutrients

A report from the Institute of Medicine is being developed to help Congress and the Food and Drug Administration decide what to do about the proliferation of certain labeling practices that food companies and retailers use to promote the nutritional aspects of food products. According to the report, nutrition information on the front of food packages should focus on the nutrients most responsible for obesity and chronic diseases: calories, saturated fat, trans fat and sodium.
The report suggests a package-front label that emphasize the potentially harmful nutrients in the food product — for example, those that promote obesity, diabetes or heart disease — and exclude information about beneficial nutrients, like fiber or vitamins.
That was partly to avoid a mixed message and partly because including information about positive ingredients could encourage food companies to unnecessarily fortify foods with nutrients to score better in the labeling system, the report said.
"What we’re suggesting is that food products be labeled in a consistent way with information that will help the general public decrease their risk for chronic diseases and this is the type of information that is unlikely to currently appear on the front of the package,” said Alice H. Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University and vice chairwoman of the institute committee that prepared the report.

Source: NYTimes

"Food Labeling Chaos"

Food labels can be very misleading, and sometimes we just can't figure them out!
The Center for Science in the Public Interest recently published a comprehensive report on the subject, called "Food Labeling Chaos." It is a long report, 158 pages, but provides useful information on distinguishing label facts and marketing.

The Daily Green provided a good summary, including real definition of serving sizes, fiber, omega 3, zero trans fat, free range eggs and fiber. For details, logon to The Daily Green.