Remember how over 2 years ago I told you how you could tell the FDA what you thought about changes to the food label? Well, I hope you did. If you did, maybe your voice counted.
Recently, the FDA announced what changes they will be making to the nutrition facts labels on your foods. The new labels will have to be in place by July 2018, which is quite awhile. But it is great to see some changes. Here’s the label:
What’s New (my highlights):
-Updates to the serving size. Not only is the font bigger, but the amounts should be changing. No longer will there be serving sizes on a cookie that are ΒΌ of a cookie. Serving sizes and nutrition facts must reflect amounts people actually eat. Hooray!
-Other items bolded or in larger font for ease of finding key information, like calories.
-Added sugars will now be on the label. I am very excited about this. Now you can know how much sugar is being added to foods that naturally have sugar in them, such as yogurt and fruit products.
-Vitamin D and Potassium will now be on the label rather than vitamin A and C. I am also a big fan of this change. Vitamin D and potassium are key nutrients for heart health, and those with kidney disease need to be acutely aware of their potassium intake. This will help.
This is a great change for food labeling. Hopefully, it helps us make better choices in the grocery stores. For more details on all the changes, visit fda.gov. Let me know your thoughts on the changes in the comments!