FDA Updates the Nutrition Label

25 Aug FDA Updates the Nutrition Label

Posted at 10:37h in Exercise & Nutrition by Triage Cancer

Individuals across the country have heavily relied on the nutrition facts label to speak the ChooseMyPlate truth about their food choices. On May 20, 2016, the FDA released a new and updated nutrition facts label to help individuals make better informed decisions about the foods they consume.

The new nutrition facts label includes:

A design that better emphasizes the amount of “calories” and the number of “servings” in a package
“Dual column” labels to indicate both “per serving” and “per package” calorie and nutrition information.
A declaration of grams and a percent daily value (%DV) for “added sugars” to differentiate the amount of added sugars from the natural sugars.
Updated daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber and vitamin D that are consistent with the Institute of Medicine recommendations and the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
A declaration of grams and a %DV of vitamin D and potassium for consumers who are deficient in these nutrients and are, thus, at greater risk for chronic disease. The %DV and actual gram count for calcium and iron will continue to be required, whereas the %DV and actual gram count for Vitamins A and C will no longer be a requirement.
A removal of “Calories from Fat” because research shows that the type of fat is more important than the amount of fat. “Total Fat,” “Saturated Fat,” and “Trans Fat” will continue to be required.
An abbreviated footnote to better explain the %DV.

New Nutrition Label

Don’t expect to see these changes right away. Most food manufacturers will be required to use the new label by July 26,2018. Manufacturers with annual food sales of less than $10 million will have an additional year to adjust to the change.

However, the new label is a big step towards helping individuals be more conscious of the products they are eating. For more nutritional tools, visit: https://www.supertracker.usda.gov.

Take another step by watching the recording of our free webinar on nutrition and plant-based diets.