Google – AFP, Kerry Sheridan (AFP), 27 February 2014
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US First
Lady Michelle Obama speaks during an event in the East Room of
the White House
February 27, 2014 in Washington (AFP, Brendan Smialowski)
|
Washington
— In a country where obesity is rampant, First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday
aimed to make healthy choices easier for consumers by unveiling a series of
proposed changes to food labels.
Calories,
added sugars and more realistic serving information would feature more
prominently on more than 700,000 products, in a revamp she described as the
"label of the future."
"This
will be the new norm in providing consumers with information about the food
they buy," she said at a White House event. "So this is a huge
deal."
The changes
will likely take years to implement but administration officials said they hope
that the first major overhaul of nutrition labels in two decades will give
Americans new tools for fighting the battle of the bulge.
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US First
Lady Michelle Obama arrives during
an event in the East Room of the White House
February 27, 2014 in Washington (AFP,
Brendan Smialowski)
|
If
approved, the calorie count would be printed in a larger size than the rest,
and a new line would detail "added sugars" -- not just total sugars.
The changes
would also attempt to eliminate confusion about how many servings a container
holds, and how many calories are in a serving.
Under the
new proposal, if a soda is 20 ounces (0.6 liters), the calorie count on the
label would reflect a 20 ounce soda.
Currently,
the advertised calorie count is much lower, since it reflects just one serving,
and in a 20 ounce soda there are 2.5 servings.
Single-packaged
pastries, cookies and muffins also often say they contain two servings, which
experts say can be misleading.
"You
as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an
item off the shelf, and tell whether it's good for your family," said
Obama.
Labels
would include mandatory potassium and vitamin D amounts for the first time.
Calories
from fat would be eliminated, since health experts understand more today than
they did 20 years ago about good and bad fats, administration officials said.
The
proposals are open for a 90-day comment period and would likely take at least
two years to implement.
For Obama,
advocating healthy eating and exercise, particularly among young people, has
been a centerpiece of her efforts, and Thursday also marked the fourth
anniversary of her "Let's Move" campaign.
More than
one third (35.7 percent) of Americans are obese, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, a trend that has remained steady among adults
in recent years.
But new CDC
data released earlier this week showed, for the first time, a steep 43 percent
drop in obesity among the very young, aged two to five, signaling potential
progress against the epidemic.
- High cost
of obesity -
Some
pushback over the labels is expected from the food industry, particularly
regarding salt and sugar content.
The Grocery
Manufacturers Association, an industry group, said it would work with the Food
and Drug Administration, which is in charge of the process, but said any
changes must "ultimately serve to inform, and not confuse,
consumers."
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US
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius speaks during
an event
in the East Room of the White House February 27, 2014 in Washington (AFP,
Brendan Smialowski)
|
The
nutrition facts label has only undergone one update in two decades, and that
was to add a line about trans fat content in 2006.
"Our
goal here is to design a label that is easier to read and one that consumers
can understand," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
The labels
could help improve public health by reducing the risk of chronic health issues
such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke, which
cost the United States around $150 billion a year.
"We
realize the label alone won't magically change how Americans eat," but it
aims to provide them with "the tools to be successful," Hamburg said.
Consumer
health groups welcomed the changes, but some called on the FDA to go further by
establishing recommended daily values for sugar and by lowering salt.
Ronald
Tamler, clinical director of the diabetes center at The Mount Sinai Hospital in
New York, called the proposal an important step towards helping American
consumers make smart choices.
"Hopefully,
the days of declaring half a cookie as one serving -- a common practice that
can even fool nutrition experts -- will soon be behind us."
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