In 1990, just two years after the creation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the federal government passed a law requiring all packaged food to contain a label outlining nutritional facts. The FDA has established certain rules governing the food labels, including what information should be listed on the label and what claims food companies can make on their labels.
Label Placement
Companies have two options for placing information on the labels of their packaging. The first option is to place all nutrition information and claims on the main display panel of the food packaging. However, most companies choose the second option, which is to place specified label statements, such as "fat-free" or "low-calorie," on the front label, then the rest of the nutritional facts on the panel to the right of the main display panel. The main display panel is defined as the side of the package that is most likely to be seen first by the consumer.
Label Information
All food labels must contain certain nutrient information to help consumers make educated decisions about the foods they eat. The first requirement is the serving size. All the nutrient information is based on this serving size. The food label must then list the number of calories per serving, as well as the number of calories from fat. The label must also list the amount of fat per serving, types of fat, amount of sodium, cholesterol and total carbohydrates, along with sugars and dietary fiber and protein. Each nutrient must also have a percentage amount that corresponds to the daily nutritional recommendations set forth by the FDA.
Health Content Claims
The FDA also regulates the health claims made by companies on their food labels. For a food to claim that it is "low-calorie," for example, it must have been specially reformulated to have fewer calories than a normal version of the product. For example, since broccoli naturally contains almost no traces of fat, a broccoli manufacturer could not label a bag of broccoli as "fat-free" or "low-fat," since broccoli naturally is virtually fat-free.
Rounding for Major Nutrients
In order to make the label as simple as possible, companies can round the amounts of the nutrients on the labels in accordance with the FDA requirements. For example, a food that contains fewer than 5 calories per serving can list its calorie amount as 0. Foods with calories less than 50 can list the calorie amounts rounded up to the nearest increment of 5 calories. Foods that contain more than 50 calories must round to the nearest 10 calories. For fat grams, anything containing less than .5 g of fat can be listed as fat-free. Foods with 5 g of fat or fewer must be rounded to the nearest .5 g. Over 5 g can be rounded to the nearest gram.
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