It will no longer be enough to print how much sugar a particular product has on nutrition labels. The FDA is going to make it mandatory for food and beverage companies to provide more detailed labeling.
This will include precise information about the percentage of sugar that will be added to one's daily recommended intake.
In announcing this decision recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that sugar content in grams is not enough information to help consumers adjust their daily recommended intake. Coming just before its latest consumer study report on added sugars, this is a significant move on the agency's part.
Additional sugar in food and beverage means adding to the daily calorie intake without the necessary nutrients that the body needs. As per federal health guidelines, one should get 10 percent or less of his or her daily calories from sugar in a 2,000-calorie daily diet, with a much lower ratio recommended.
Detailed sugar information on the Nutrition Facts label will help the FDA encourage people to have less sugar by explaining the percent daily value concept more clearly. For over a decade, consumers have been advised against too much sugar intake, and the FDA feels that a detailed label can only help in this endeavor.
According to the American Heart Association, one should limit daily sugar consumption to around 100 calories for women and 150 calories for men per day. Foods and beverages that have high amounts of added sugars can be quite deceptive because they add unnecessary amounts of sugar in the body without an iota of nutritional element.
Sugars add extra calories that lead to obesity, reduce heart health and exacerbate conditions like diabetes.
Of course, there is going to be a lot of opposition from food and beverage companies, since stressing the "percent daily value" of added sugars listed on labels will have far-reaching business repercussions for them.
One is that they will have to rework the labeling, creating an additional expense. But more than anything, they know that these details would likely deter consumers and their sugar intakes, which means decreasing sales figures.
The scientific community, which has spoken out about lack of regulations in the past, is heralding the announcement as a positive change that may well turn the nutritional tide.
Earlier regulations have paved the way for detailed labeling for sodium, certain fats, cholesterol, total carbohydrates, calcium, iron and dietary fiber in foods. These provided an easy reference guide for consumers so that they could manage their portion sizes accordingly.
The percentage information and the difference between unhealthy added sugars and beneficial sugars will go a long way to help one manage the daily diet. The latter can be received from fruits and dairy products, which offer lots of nutrition.
In 2014, reports from a U.S. Department of Agriculture study showed that there has been a 42-57 percent increase in use of nutrition labels for American adults, whether they are buying groceries or eating out.
The FDA has stated that these efforts are made in order to make more food producers accountable to consumers. With more than one-third of U.S. adults categorized as obese, this move is more than welcome.
In 2008, obesity related medical costs accounted for $147 billion while more than 20 percent of U.S adolescents were reported obese in 2011-2012. Future studies may reveal even more alarming figures, and controlling the sugar intake is one way to stem these, before it’s too late.
