The Food and Drug Administration is expected to propose a change to prepackaged food sold in America: a requirement that the front of the packages display key nutrient information in addition to the nutrition label that’s already on the back.
The concept, designed to quickly convey health ramifications to busy consumers about the food and beverages they are considering purchasing, is not novel: Worldwide, dozens of countries already have front-of-package nutrition labels that come in various designs. In Chile, for example, a stop sign symbol on the front of an item indicates if it has high sugar, saturated fat, sodium or calories. In Israel, there’s a red warning label on such food and drinks. And in Singapore, beverages display a letter grade based on how nutritious they are.
Advocates have been asking the FDA for nearly two decades to require front-of-pack labels, which they say help people make healthier choices and prod food manufacturers to reformulate their recipes so they have fewer warnings on their products. The FDA stayed largely silent on the issue until it announced intentions to explore front-of-pack labels as part of a national health strategy released during a landmark White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in 2022. Since then, it has reviewed literature on front-of-pack labeling and conducted focus groups to test designs for labels.
But the idea faces opposition from trade associations representing America’s food and beverage makers, who created their own voluntary system for highlighting certain nutrients on the front of packages over a decade ago. And some of the label designs being considered by the FDA could be challenged on First Amendment grounds.
“The U.S. does interpret free speech much broader and more inclusive of corporate speech than any other country in the world,”…
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