Nutrition advocates and industry groups are revving up for a fight over whether to require a new front-of-package label that would more clearly indicate health risks
“We already have information on the side of the pack, but it’s clear that it’s not having the desired impact to advance the public health,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food and health watchdog organization. “This is a chance to make that information more prominent, more readable and more useful.”
A spokeswoman for the FDA said last week that it “plans to help empower consumers by providing more informative labeling to help consumers identify foods that can contribute to healthier diets.” The agency said it is monitoring the implementation of front labels in other countries and starting to conduct its own consumer focus groups around front labels.
Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would require the FDA to create standardized, front-of-package labeling for all food that has a nutrition label, which excludes some food such as raw fruits and vegetables. “I’m not too eager to push for big changes unless they can prove there’s some huge benefit to it,” said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee’s nutrition panel.
Some industry groups have launched voluntary programs, including Facts Up Front, started in 2011 by the Consumer Brands Association and FMI, The Food Industry Association. Around 150 companies use those voluntary labels, which display nutritional information, including calories, saturated fat and sodium, as well as up to two “nutrients to encourage,” such as fiber or potassium.Would front labels have an impact on your food or beverage purchases? Why or why not? Join the conversation below.
“That was a food industry initiative to head off anything that might actually work,” said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor emerita at New York University.
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