New nutrition labels could make it easier for us to spot healthier foods.
Several of the largest food and beverage companies in the U.S. have agreed to use the Smart Choices symbol on their packages.
It will be easy to spot – right on the front of the package with two simple pieces of information: calories per serving and the number of servings.
To qualify for the Smart Choices label, foods have to meet certain criteria like limiting total fat, trans fat, sodium and added sugars, and at the same time have good-for-you ingredients like fiber, calcium and certain vitamins.
So far, the companies that will use the symbol are Coca-Cola Co, General Mills Inc, Kellogg Co, ConAgra Foods Inc, Kraft Foods Inc, PepsiCo Inc and Unilever, as well as retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The Smart Choices label will begin appearing on food and beverage packages next year.
An interesting development in the “cat and mouse” of food regulation. For a brief history of food labeling and regulation take a look at:
http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/25/1862-2008-a-brief-history-of-food-and-nutrition-labeling/
I read nutrition labels all the time when buying food! Once you learn what to look for, and what they mean, I believe the information is very helpful.
This is an interesting program.
According to their website, “the nutrient criteria are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and can be modified as needed when the 2010 guidelines are released”
Up here in Canada, there is a similar program (The Health Check program) designed by the canadian heart and stroke foundation.
An investigation into their selection process revealed some disturbing news – http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/hyping_health/
Hopefully the Smart Choices programs avoids becoming another marketing tool for our food producers.
In particular,, I am interested to see if they treat the HFCS added to many of our foods as “added sugar” or naturally occurring.
Good point, DR – I hope it doesn’t become a marketing tool for food producers!
Ironically, I tell my clients and my students to disregard ANYTHING/EVERYTHING on the front label of any food. Words and phrases on the front are just that — marketing. The real info is in the ingredients label on the side. That’s where it’s at!
Interestingly, the manufacturers listed (ConAgra, Kellogg, General Mills etc.) all use GMOs / GE ingredients (genetically engireed/genetically modified) which are not cited ANYWHERE on the front, back or sides of food, because they don’t have to be.
What it boils down to, is, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that processed food, refined sugars, unnatural additives and trans fat have no place in a healthy diet. We don’t really need the addition of these “Smart Choices” labeling. What we need is TRUTH in labeling. The calorie content isn’t the be-all, end-all to say whether a food is “smart” or “healthy”. We need to stop focusing on calories and start focusing on nutrition and the true energy and virtues of the food we eat.
This does seem to me, like DR says, just another marketing tool for manufacturers who produce unhealthy food using tons of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and saturated and trans fats, to sell even more product. Ugh!
Oooh! That would be great! I always look at the labels. it would be good to have some new, update versions.
Interesting, and that NuVal food score system is coming out too in the fall.
This brings up the point of portion control-it’s like eating fat free cookies and thinking that is a healthy snack. In my opinion, it all comes down to total calories in and total calories out. If you eat ten fat free cookies but they each have 100 calories, you just ate over half your calorie intake for the day. So even if they put these labels on food, people will still lie to themselves to feel better about their eating.
Katie – I totally agree with you, but keep hoping SOMETHING will help SOON! Not sure what the answer is…