Highlights of the Current Food Label

• Serving sizes have been revised to match actual consumption patterns.

• Calories are in larger and bolder font.

• Calories from fat have been removed, as research shows the type of fat consumed is more important than the amount.

• Added sugars are included in grams and as a percentage Daily Value.

• Vitamin D and potassium are included in the list of nutrients, replacing Vitamins A & C.

• The label also includes footnotes explaining Daily Value.

Nutrition Facts labels are important tools for assisting individuals to select healthy foods. However, only 63 percent of adults understand how to interpret the % Daily Value and only 57 percent know to how tell when a food is “high” in a nutrient. This leads to less inclusiveness and more confusion for consumers with limited formal education.¹⁷

Figure 4. Graph by CSPI using data from FDA Food Safety and Nutrition Survey 2019 ¹⁷

The Future of Food Labels

Today, more than a dozen countries require that manufactures print nutritional labels on the front of food packages.¹⁶ The Food and Drug Administration is currently developing front-of-package nutrition labels (FOPNL) that could require companies comply as early as 2027. Research has determined that the most effective nutritional labels were those that interpreted information for consumers. Front facing package nutrition labels (FOPNL) is an opportunity to level the playing field and make the information more accessible and inclusive. Research demonstrates that economically disadvantaged Americans eat the most ultra-processed foods. FOPNL will give consumers basic nutrition information to compare products quickly. The labels would highlight when a food contains elevated levels of nutrients that are typically overconsumed, such as sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats in ultra-processed foods. (UPF) On average, adults consume 50 percent more sodium, 40 percent more added sugars, and 30 percent more saturated fat per day than recommend, contributing to the increased incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCD).¹⁷ FOPNL will help make nutrition information more accessible to all consumer, resulting in healthier food choices and food supply. Below are examples of FOPNL under consideration by the FDA.¹⁷ The “High In” scheme with explanation points, along with the “red, yellow, green” stop light scheme are scoring the best in experimental studies.¹⁷

Figure 5. Example label images with exclamation points created by CSPI (left). Others are FDA label images (middle and right)¹⁷

Free sugars hide under a number of assumed names, especially in ultra processed foods and beverages. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so where sugar is listed in relation to other ingredients can indicate how much sugar a particular product contains.¹ The higher it is located on the ingredient list, the more added sugar the product contains. Keep in mind there are also several sugar substitutes used in low-calorie products to provide sweetness, but with fewer calories. Examples include Aspartame, Xylitol and Stevia. However, studies indicate artificial sweeteners may negatively impact gut bacteria and metabolism.