Public health advocacy group pushes for labeling changes
The Food and Drug Administration is in the midst of revising the Nutrition Facts label on packaged food products, in an effort to make it convey more relevant information to consumers. In the background, interested parties are staking out their positions.
The Environmental Working Group, a public health advocacy group, is pushing for changes to make calories more prominent and highlight the presence of added sugar, fat and sodium. In the meantime, the group has launched its own rating system it says will make it easier to identify healthy food.
Not so, says the Washington-based Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which blasts the rating system as “severely flawed.”
"The best advice for consumers seeking to achieve and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle is to follow the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which include eating a variety of foods as recommended by ChooseMyPlate.gov, combined with regular physical activity to create an overall healthy lifestyle,” GMA said in a statement.
The new label may not be coming anytime soon. FDA is currently reviewing thousands of comments from stakeholders. Once the final rule is issued, standard procedure usually gives industry additional time to implement the new provisions.
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