FDA Unveils its Proposed Front-of-Package Labeling System
The FDA today (Jan. 14) revealed its promised Nutrition Info box, its front-of-package (FOP) labeling system to help consumers quickly and easily identify healthy or unhealthy foods.
What it lacks in imagery it makes up for in simplicity and directness. The proposed label looks a lot like the black-and-white Nutrition Facts box carried on the back of most foods. The label would detail and interpret the relative amounts of three nutrients—saturated fat, sodium and added sugars—in a serving of food and would appear on the package’s front so it’s immediately visible when a consumer is deciding whether to buy or eat the food.
Following the percentage of those three nutrients in a serving, the new box also would indicate if the product is low, medium or high in those nutrients.
Current federal dietary recommendations advise consumers to limit those three nutrients to achieve a nutrient-dense diet within calorie limits. While calories would not be a requirement in the Nutrition Info box, a manufacturer could voluntarily include a calorie statement on the front of the food package, per existing FDA regulations.
“The proposed Nutrition Info box would complement the Nutrition Facts label that is already required on most packaged food,” today’s announcement said. “While many consumers use and benefit from the Nutrition Facts label, regular use of the label is lower among some segments of the population.” The agency apparently hopes this FOP label will improve consumer awareness.
A number of other countries have successfully implemented FOP nutrition labeling.
The FDA elaborated on the process:
The FDA conducted a literature review, two sets of focus group testing and a peer-reviewed experimental study to explore consumer reactions to various FOP nutrition labels. The first focus group provided FDA with qualitative feedback and insight into the varying ways that consumers react to and comprehend FOP nutrition information and helped the agency understand which schemes might be most helpful for U.S. consumers to quickly and easily identify how foods can be part of a healthy diet.
The second set of focus group testing showed that participants viewed the FOP nutrition information on beverages and non-beverage products similarly. The experimental study showed that the black and white “Nutrition Info” scheme with the quantitative and interpretive percent Daily Value performed best in helping consumers identify healthier food options in a number of instances. These results align with the scientific literature, which indicates that interpretive FOP nutrition information is helpful for consumers and simpler schemes are easier for consumers to understand.
It's only a proposed rule at this point. Comments on it can be submitted electronically to http://www.regulations.gov by May 16. Its compliance date would be three years after the final rule’s effective date for businesses with $10 million or more in annual food sales. Businesses with less than $10 million in annual food sales would have an additional year to comply.