The US government has strengthened its fight against one of the country's biggest problems: excess calories. The White House and the Food and Drug Administration recently announced major changes to food packaging labels in order for Americans to better manage their calorie intake.
Time For Some Changing
According to ABC News, the much-needed update is the first of its kind in 20 years. Nutritional facts on food packages will soon indicate how many grams of sugar manufacturers added to the base product. The new labels will feature a larger font size for the calorie counter and will list what percentage of the recommended daily maximum the product represents.
Dr. David Katz, a nutritionist at Yale University's Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, lauded the planned changes. He believes the new labels is a step towards a healthier citizenry.
"Overall, these changes are timely and represent an update that is in accord with the evolving understanding of nutritional priorities," Katz mused. "But most people don't know how to put that all together and make the decision 'Is this product a good choice - is there something else I should eat instead?'"
Healthy Choices
The FDA's new directive to separate added sugar from the total sugar count on food packaging labels is part of the Obama administration's "Let's Move!" initiative. First Lady Michelle Obama has been spearheading the now 12-month campaign which seeks to curb the country's obesity and diabetes rates.
"I am thrilled that the FDA has finalized a new and improved nutrition facts label that will be on food products nationwide," Mrs. Obama shared to Washington Times. "This is going to make a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices."
All food packaging labels in the US will adopt the changes starting July 2018. Until then, food manufacturers have two years to slowly conform to the FDA's new mandate. It has been estimated that the changes will affect over 800,000 products.
