FDA Announces New Changes to Nutrition Labels to Combat Obesity

Health experts seem to finally be getting their wish. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced today that there will be a nutrition label makeover within the next few years.

The overwhelming presence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in the United States has prompted medical and health experts to take larger measures in hopes of mitigating morbidity. Updates were last made to nutrition labels back in 2006, but these changes will make ingredients and serving sizes clearer to those who are health-conscious. Here are the current nutrition fact labels, provided by the FDA.

Despite announcing today that changes will be made, food manufacturers have two years to comply with new FDA requirements, as stated by law. Nonetheless, here's some information about the new labels.

Perhaps the two most important changes will be the emphasis on realistic serving sizes and added sugars. The goal for changes in serving sizes is to put into perspective what/how much people will actually be eating. Products that are typically consumed in one sitting, such as a bottle of soda, will be listed as one serving instead of two servings, which the current labels display. Sugars will be shown on two different lines. One will be "sugars" and the other will be "added sugars" because people should know that added sugars are unhealthy and should be consumed much less. High added sugar consumption is linked to obesity and diabetes.

The two other changes will be associated with calories. Calorie information, as well as servings per container, will be in bigger and bolder fonts. Calorie consumption is essential to an individual's daily diet and the FDA wants to stress such information. Additionally, "calories from fat" will be eliminated from the nutrition labels. The FDA wants consumers to seek products that are lower in saturated and trans fats rather than merely the amount of fat.

And in order to improve the health of the everyday individual, the FDA believe it's critical to have specific information stand out to consumers. You can read more about the new nutrition labels in this FDA news release as well as this Live Science article.