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Labels We Can Understand
Creators Syndicate
FIGHT BACK! BY DAVID HOROWITZ
Labels We Can Understand
After four years, the government's revised nutritional labels
have finally arrived in the supermarket. And the Food and Drug
Administration is giving them the full media treatment. The slogan is
everywhere. TV spots, ballpark scoreboards and even the Goodyear Blimp
is carrying the message -- The New Food Label: Check It Out!
This is, after all, the first major change in food labeling in
20 years. "The new food label represents nothing less than an enormous
public health opportunity that comes only rarely," says FDA
Commissioner David Kessler. "Using the new labels, Americans will be
able to make truly informed choices about the foods they eat."
In fact, the new labels do make balancing your diet a lot
easier than it used to be. For one thing, there are no more grams and
ounces to figure out. Each food's nutritional value is listed in
percentages of the total recommended daily allowance for saturated
fat, cholesterol, sodium, calories and fiber. If a product contains 5
percent or less of the RDA for fat, for instance, it's considered a
low-fat food. On the other hand, if the label says 50 percent, that
means one serving of that food contains half the fat you should eat
all day. That's a high-fat item. Zero percent fiber doesn't mean that
product is bad for you. It simply means you should look elsewhere for
fiber in your diet.
Serving sizes have also been standardized. Again, ounces are
out. Eighteen potato chips is a serving. That's something we can all
understand. No more hiding fat and calories behind bogus serving sizes
that were smaller than most people eat.
Another important change is that these new labeling rules are
mandatory. Under the old voluntary system, it was up to the food
processors to decide whether or not they would include nutritional
labeling. And 40 percent of them chose not to. However, the new rules
require by law that nutritional labeling appear on all processed
foods. Similar labels will be required on meat and poultry as of July
6. The Department of Agriculture will also require safe-handling
warnings on all fresh meat and poultry.
The new food labels seem to be getting approval from all sides
-- the government, nutritionists and public health groups. Even the
National Food Processors Association is praising the change. Michael
Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest did have one
reservation, however. The new regulations do not apply to food
advertis- ing, which is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, not
the FDA. Jacobson wants Congress to extend truth in labeling rules to
cover advertising claims as well.
The point of having this information on labels is not to brand
some foods good and others bad. A balanced died should include a wide
variety of foods eaten in moderation. That's why those percentages on
the label are so important. They allow you to make choices without
loading up on sugar, salt, fat and calories. You can tell exactly
where your favorite foods belong as part in your daily diet. As the
ads say, Check It Out! COPYRIGHT 1994 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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