Consumer Federation of America today applauded the Food and Drug Administration’s long-awaited proposal to update the Nutrition Facts Panel found on most packaged food products. In the two decades since the panel was first required under the Nutrition Education and Labeling Act, consumer diets and food consumption patterns have changed as have food products and packaging. Meanwhile, the obesity epidemic is a major public health problem. A revision of the Nutrition Facts Panel to provide consumers with updated and relevant information about the nutritional content of their food is long overdue.

“This is good news for consumers,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America. “Updating the Nutrition Facts Panel will provide consumers with more relevant and useful information about the foods they consume.”

FDA’s proposal to more prominently identify calories on the label is a welcome change so consumers can more easily monitor the number of calories they consume. Accordingly, developing more accurate serving sizes that better reflect the fact that some packages of foods are typically consumed as a single serving is an important update to the label. Identifying added sugars on the label will help consumers  better follow the Dietary Guidelines recommendations to reduce the intake of calories from added sugars, since right now consumers are not provided with that information.  Finally, the revised label should be easily understood by consumers and provide the right information to allow consumers to make healthy choices in the supermarket.

Contact: Chris Waldrop, 202-797-8551

Consumer Federation of America is an association of nearly 300 non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, education and advocacy.