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Worried about the unhealthy food the Americans are consuming nowadays and about the high rates of obesity recorded over the past decades, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to take food labeling to another level.
They stated on Friday that they want labels to provide more information regarding the amounts of added sugar in the product. This way, consumers will be informed about how much extra sugar they eat.
More precisely, the agency wants to have the percent daily value listen of food labels. This represents the percentage of daily calories recommended for a specific nutrient.
While sugar content is currently mentioned only in grams, this new labeling method is aimed to have Americans reduce their daily intake of added sugar, which should not exceed 10 percent of the total amount of calories consumed.
“For the past decade, consumers have been advised to reduce their intake of added sugars, and the proposed percent daily value for added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label is intended to help consumers follow that advice,” said Susan Mayne, who is the director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Excessive sugar consumption can be very dangerous, because this processed product is not rich in nutrients and mainly provides unnecessary calorie intake.
Health experts and nutritionists approve of the initiative and are confident that the new proposal will provide people with a reference guide and help them have all the facts before they make the decision of consuming that product.
It will also help them determine easier which product is healthier and better for their diet. This is a more difficult task to accomplish now, because consumers cannot distinguish between added sugars and natural ones in a certain product. And whereas natural sugars are welcome in the diet, added sugars can be very harmful if consumed in excess.
Moreover, producers might be encouraged to use less added sugar in their products in order to keep their sales up.
There are many people out there who could really use having a better control over what they eat and this information on the label might be a huge step ahead.
The proposal is up for review for 75 days before it gets its approval.
Image Source: consumerreports
