Since America is getting fatter/heart disease is a killer
each day, after 20 years, the FDA is coming out with new food labels. Some of
you probably don’t even read them, and if you do, you most likely just say
“wow, that’s a lot of calories/sugar/fat etc… I’m still eating it!” Ha, I
know.. I do it everyday. So anyway, here is a sneak peak at the new food label
coming out.
- Comparing left to right, the RIGHT one is the NEW one. Difference? Okay.
- The calories are now bold and HUGE. That’s saying, “Hey, I’m 230 calories, and you should probably know that’s a whole lot for just 2/3 cup!”
- Serving size… it’s telling you these 230 calories are coming from 2/3 cup of whatever food this is. So no, there is not 230 calories in this whole entire box.. there is 230 calories in 2/3 cup of the box so DON’T EAT THE WHOLE DANG BOX!
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| Just to show you the differences of "servings" over the past 50 years. |
- The % Daily Values has been placed in front. Many of you probably don’t even know what those percentages mean. It’s basically just telling you, based on a 2,000 diet (which may be more or less than what your body requires.. this is just an average), this is the % that is contributing to how much you SHOULD be having each day. So like.. Total fat here is 12%. That’s saying that eating 2/3 cup of this food is 12% of the fat you should eat everyday. You have 88% more to go!!
- Vitamins A and C have now been removed and Vitamin D and Potassium has been added. This is because most Americans are getting enough A and C but lacking in D and Potassium. However, if you live in Florida and you’re in the sun all the time.. you’re probably okay with the D! :)
- Finally, they added a place for “added sugar”. Basically, when you read a food label and you see “sugars”, you don’t know if that occurs naturally in the food (strawberries) or has been added (strawberry gummy worms). Added sugar contributes many calories in a majority of foods we eat, even if it’s not sweet. This may not be one of the best implications of the new food label because there have been so many arguments that naturally occurring sugar vs. added sugar still has the same chemical composition. While this may be true, the natural sugars most likely have many more health benefits, like vitamins and nutrients, than just plain table sugar or high fructose corn syrups (yes, I know.. those stupid commercials… Ahhh but the corn is nattuuurall. Psh).
Apparently it is going to take a little bit for these
changes to occur. Obviously industries don’t want their products to look “bad”
or “unhealthy” per label so maybe it’ll create an incentive to produce healthier
foods? Wishful thinking! As long as they keep chocolate around, I think I’ll be
okay. For antioxidant reasons ;)
Just a Dietitian tidbit for ya! Buh bye.
