Food package fronts to display nutrition information
Nutrition facts are coming to the fronts of cereal boxes, soup cans and other food packages, giving consumers a new way to watch the calories.
Nutrition facts are coming to the fronts of cereal boxes, soup cans and other food packages, giving consumers a new way to watch the calories.
The front-of-package labels will have numbers for calories, sugar, sodium and saturated-fat content, and also may include vitamins, minerals and fiber.
The labels are an initiative of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents industry companies such as General Mills, Kraft and ConAgra of Omaha, and the Food Marketing Institute, which represents major supermarket chains.
However, the labels could wind up conflicting with guidelines being developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The agency is waiting on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences. The institute has recommended against including vitamins, minerals and fiber on package fronts, nutrients that would be included in the industry program.
The FDA said it would monitor the industry program but was concerned about including vitamins, minerals and fiber.
The label should be simple, but listing nutrients "might lead consumers to infer that a product with relatively few nutritional benefits is healthy," the agency said.
The industry labels, known as Nutrition Keys, should start appearing in the next few weeks. Major members of the grocery industry group involved in developing the labels include Walmart, Hy-Vee, Supervalu, Kroger and Safeway.
Source: Grocery Manufacturers Association
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