STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Food and Drug Administration wants to require a new nutrition label on the front of most packaged foods and drinks. The goal is to help Americans make healthier choices. Here's NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: The proposed label would let consumers see at a glance whether a packaged food or drink contains low, medium or high levels of sodium, added sugar and saturated fat, as well as the percentage in each serving. Rebecca Buckner of the FDA's Human Foods Program says a large body of research has linked overconsumption of these nutrients to chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
REBECCA BUCKNER: And yet the vast majority of Americans exceed current recommended limits for all these nutrients.
GODOY: Buckner notes that ultra-processed foods, which dominate the typical American diet, also tend to be high in salt, sugar and fat, which makes them easy to overeat. She says the proposed labels could prompt food manufacturers to reformulate products to make them healthier. Peter Lurie of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest says the FDA's proposed nutrition label is a step in the right direction.
PETER LURIE: We're thrilled about the new front-of-pack nutrition labeling proposal because it will give consumers the information they need to take control of their own health and make healthier purchasing decisions.
GODOY: Lurie notes that many countries in Latin America have already adopted similar front-of-package labels in an effort to combat chronic diseases driven by poor diets.
LURIE: And so it's nice to see the United States finally playing catch up.
GODOY: After Chile adopted front-of-package nutrition labels in 2016, sales of unhealthy food products declined. Here's Lindsey Smith Taillie. She studies global food policies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
LINDSEY SMITH TAILLIE: There were really major reductions in calories, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat purchased, particularly from these products with the labels.
GODOY: One key difference is that in Chile, front-of-package labels are shaped like stop signs. They serve as warnings and only appear if a product is high in salt, sugar or fat. By contrast, the FDA wants to see its proposed labels on most packaged foods. The Consumer Brands Association told NPR that the FDA proposal disregards industry input and collaboration. The food industry trade group says it's looking forward to working with the incoming Trump administration. After all, it will be up to them to decide whether or how to adopt the new labels.
Maria Godoy, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF DJ PERREO'S "HIP HOP MUSIC MIX") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
