The biggest overhaul of US food nutrition labels in more than two decades is likely to help improve the diets of the most health-conscious consumers, but others might need more convincing.
Public health advocates welcomed the new rules but said some of the groups most at risk for obesity and diet-related illness might not change habits without other measures to discourage sugar consumption, such as taxes on sugar and food advertising warning labels.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced new Nutrition Facts packaged food label rules that include disclosure of how much sugar is added to thousands of processed foods ranging from soda to spaghetti sauce.
Curbing excess sugar consumption is key to whittling waist lines in the US, where more than one-third of adults are obese, and to reducing the prevalence of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.
About two-thirds of Americans are already are trying to cut back on their sugar intake, market research company The NPD Group food and beverage industry analyst Darren Seifer said.
“This might actually have an effect. Sugar is the focal point for consumers right now,” Seifer said.
Food industry groups, many of which had fought the new rules, said they would comply with the changes.
That included the Grocery Manufacturers Association which said that consumers could be confused by the changes and would need education.
A review of research from several countries, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition in 2011, found a link between the use of nutrition labels and healthier diets, but wide differentiation in how groups responded to labels.
“It’s a useful tool for those who are really educated and concerned, and has zero effect on the population most at need,” University of North Carolina nutrition professor Barry Popkin said.
Popkin and Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy dean Kelly Brownell said labels would be more effective when combined with other measures.
For instance, Chile has banned the use of toys to market food to children and Mexico, Britain and some US jurisdictions tax soda. A new San Francisco law requires health warning labels on public advertisements for sugary beverages.
“I don’t think anyone expects that the labels themselves will be sufficient. Lots of other interventions will be necessary,” Brownell said.
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