More than one-third of the population is obese, and more than two-thirds are overweight according to data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Although scientists know that obesity is caused by an imbalance between the calories consumed and calories burned, they don't yet fully understand why obesity has reached epidemic levels. Public health officials from First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move Initiative to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and others are calling for stricter oversight on how food products are labeled. These demands are based on the belief that people need to be better educated about the nutritional value of the foods they purchase and that misunderstanding about nutrition facts has contributed to the obesity problem.
Current Law on Nutrition Labels
Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990, and since 1994, all food packages must contain nutrition information in label form. The required information is standardized, but the specific nutrients vary depending on the type of food product. Most labels must include the serving size, the number of calories, calories from fat, total fat and amount of saturated and trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber, sugar and protein. In addition, nutrient information per serving has to be placed in the context of a daily diet. The NLEA applies to packaged food sold in stores, although state laws have begun requiring some restaurants to provide nutrition information.
Impact of Nutrition Labels on Obesity Rates
According to "Choices" magazine, 54 percent of consumers say they read nutrition labels and use the information to make purchasing decisions. That number is up 24 points since 1990, but there's been no observed decrease in obesity rates. Congress also intended the NLEA to encourage food manufacturers to make healthier products and would allow them to use various marketing claims, such "Low Fat" if the ingredients met certain standards. Food manufacturers responded with dozens of fat-modified products, but again, obesity has only increased. This has led many to conclude still further confusion by consumers about portion sizes and how calories play into weight management.
Research on Nutrition Labels
In a study published by the "Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine," 90 percent of patients from a family medical practice could identify the number of calories per serving on a nutrition label, but only 37 percent could identify that the package had more than one serving. Most of them thought the calories they identified applied to the entire package. The confused patients also had a higher incidence of overweight, low socioeconomic status and heart disease. Another study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that the NLEA only had a significant effect on the weight of non-Hispanic white women, and for that group alone the savings in health-related spending was about $63 billion over a 20-year period spanning before and after the passage of the NLEA.
New Labeling Initiatives
In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began encouraging food companies to review their labeling to ensure they were in compliance with regulations. This was in anticipation of the FDA proposing new guidelines to put nutrition labels on the front of food packages, in addition to the ones on the back. The FDA says it plans to work with the food industry to design the new labels, with the hope of helping people choose healthy foods. In 2010, under the health care reform legislation, there is a requirement that restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations to list calorie content information for standard menu items on restaurant menus and menu boards, including drive-thru menu boards. Other nutrient information -- total calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein -- would have to be made available, in writing, upon request. Both of these measures build on the work of the FDA's Obesity Working Group, which has been studying food labeling and making recommendations about it since 2004.
New Ideas
Outside the government, public policy think tanks have also offered ideas on how to improve nutrition labels so more Americans can understand them and make better choices. For example, the Urban Institute suggested the government borrow tactics used in battling tobacco companies, such as heavily taxing fattening food and banning fatty food advertising. In addition, the organization proposes a "traffic light" symbol to be added to the front of food packages that warn consumers about the healthfulness of a particular food.
References
- "Choices": Can Nutrition Labeling Affect Obesity?
- Journal of the American Board of Family Practice: Patients' Understanding and Use of Snack Food Package Nutrition Labels
- Food in Action Conference: The Role of Nutrition Labeling in Tackling Obesity (audio)
- White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity within a Generation
- Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
- National Bureau of Economic Research: Nutrition Labels and Obesity
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