FDA Working to Replace Misleading Food Labels

"The aisles of American supermarkets can be bewildering places these days, lined with dozens of variations of cereals, crackers, chips and other foods, many of which boast of their supposed healthfulness — this yogurt is "low fat," while this cereal is "heart healthy," and those chips have "0 grams trans fat." What claims are the conscientious eater to trust and what foods should they pick to put on their table?

This question has become harder and harder for shoppers to answer, as health problems associated with poor diets, such as heart disease and obesity, affect more U.S. residents each year. Meanwhile, studies show that Americans want more and better guidance on what foods to eat.

"The public is demonstrably confused about what to eat," said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University, who recently gave a talk here at the New York Academy of Sciences about diet and food politics.

The FDA is currently in the middle of the review process, which involves both looking at existing and proposed labeling schemes for accuracy, and conducting surveys of consumers to find out what they want from such schemes.

The key, DeLancey told LiveScience, is to find out "what consumers are going to find the most useful and that's actually going to give them accurate information."

Various labeling schemes have been used and proposed: Some list just a couple key points of nutrition, such as calories, accompanied by a check mark or other symbol; some are a truncated version of the Nutrition Facts label that show key points, such as calories, fat, sugar and sodium; others include on top of that information a "traffic light" symbol (something that has been used with success in the United Kingdom) by each nutrient that indicates whether that nutrient is in the acceptable range (green) or not (red).

The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) is reviewing some of these schemes and any studies that have been done on food labels to see how accurate and informative they are. The IOM committee acts as an impartial, non-government source that regularly advises on the scientific issues involved in such matters. The IOM is slated to complete their report later this year.

Working with consumers is also important because the FDA wants to make sure that any schemes they pick or regulations they set will result in a system that consumers will actually use, that they can use for quick reference and will give them accurate information."

http://www.livescience.com/health/food-labels-100314.html