Cereal boxes, soda bottles and other packaged foods in the US could soon include labels explaining how their sugar content measures up against the recommended daily limit.
The proposal Friday by the Food and Drug Administration would expand on the agency’s decision last year to list added sugars on food labels, Susan Mayne, the director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a blog post.
Adding a percentage figure would tell consumers how the amount of added sugars fits into their recommended daily diet. For example, a 20-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage contains about 66 grams of added sugar, which would be listed on the labels as 132 percent of the daily value, according to the blog post. A Coca-Cola at that size has 65 grams, while a Pepsi has 69 grams.
Photo: AP
The FDA plans to set the percent daily value based on an added sugar limit of 50 grams for adults and children ages 4 and older and 25 grams for children ages 1 to 3. The proposal is based on the recommendation that consumers’ daily intake of calories from added sugar not exceed 10 percent of total calories, according to a statement from the FDA. Lowering the amounts of sugar-sweetened foods and beverages is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, the agency said.
FOLLOWING THROUGH
“For the past decade, consumers have been advised to reduce their intake of added sugars, and the proposed percent daily value for added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label is intended to help consumers follow that advice,” Mayne said in the statement.
In response to the move, the sugar industry’s trade group said the proposal lacks “adequate scientific evidence.”
“The fact is that the preponderance of science and the data on caloric sweeteners do not support a suggested limit on sugars intake,” the Sugar Association said in an e-mailed statement.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association echoed the sugar industry in an e-mailed statement, insisting that the FDA base intake levels on “an independent, rigorous, scientific process.”
The FDA made the decision after US advisers helping shape the nation’s dietary guidelines recommended Americans eat less added sugar. The advisers submitted a report in February that said evidence shows diets high in red meat and added sugar were “detrimental.”
TOTAL AMOUNT
Hershey, the maker of Reese’s, Twizzlers and Almond Joy, would be one of the companies forced to add the new distinction to its many candy labels.
“Consumers tell us what is most valuable to them when it comes to sugar is the total amount of sugar in the food they eat,” Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for the candy maker, said in an e-mail. “Consumers want to know what is in their food, and we welcome transparency that helps consumers make informed decisions about what they eat.”
General Mills, the maker of Cheerios and Lucky Charms, argued in comments on the FDA’s original 2014 label proposal that there isn’t a physiological distinction between added and naturally occurring sugar.
“Evidence is inconclusive solely linking added sugars intake with health-related conditions,” the company, which also makes Yoplait yogurt and Progresso soup, said at the time. On Friday, the company said it’s reviewing the FDA’s proposal.
“Clear, easily understandable Nutrition Facts information is important to consumers,” Kirstie Foster, a General Mills spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. “We’ll look forward to hearing additional perspective in the upcoming comment period.”
Labels already list percent daily values for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, calcium and iron.
A footnote in the label would read: “The percent daily value (%DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.”
The FDA is seeking public comment on the proposal for 75 days and is reopening the comment period for its original draft rule on putting added sugars on labels, released by the agency last March.
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