The new nutritional labels on food
Obesity is a growing epidemic all over the world; while we can only blame ourselves for this problem a better, more understandable nutritional label is needed. The Food and Drug Administration should require new a nutritional label that tells all the information about the food or drink you are about to ingest (This is strictly my opinion). So here are some things that need improvement.
- The servings part of the label should be larger and explain the figure below is only based on the serving amount of the food or drink. Some people believe the label is for the all the product when in fact most labels are for a small portion. There should be a minimum serving amount; I have seen a serving size of half a tablespoon of salad dressing. Most people use more than half a tablespoon and things like this deceive the public.
- In the “sugars” row the ingredients with the most sugar content in the product should be put in parenthesis because there are some good natural sugars. More importantly it would show the bad sugars (if they are there).
- Calories should be displayed in two sections: Serving amount and full product. This may be a wake-up call to some who eat the entire product in one or two sittings.
- Trans fats, Polyunsaturated fats, and Monounsaturated fats should be explain (of what it is) in products where a substantial amount is present.
- With the increasing diversity in America I think nutrition labels should be written in Spanish and English
- Where many packages are put into one box, a nutritional label or a least a condensed label should be on each individual package with the most crucial information.
- Lastly no nutritional labels should be in the box; the entire label should be on the outside of the box.
- If the product has over 10 grams of fat per serving the label should high-light this information to make it apparent before you buy the product.
- Fat food companies should have labels on all food and drinks somewhere on the package or wrapper with all the guidelines mentioned above.
These improvements would help people understand the label more and give even less of an excuse to knowing what you are eating.
The servings part of the label should be larger and explain the figure below is only based on the serving amount of the food or drink.
How about instead teaching people that serving amounts vary? A very basic nutrition class can teach you that. People should know that the nutrition facts table is only based on the serving amount, and should be able to easily determine how much a full product would contain (since the label also tells you how many servings are in the container).
In the “sugars” row the ingredients with the most sugar content in the product should be put in parenthesis because there are some good natural sugars. More importantly it would show the bad sugars (if they are there).
What do you consider 'bad' sugars, exactly?
Trans fats, Polyunsaturated fats, and Monounsaturated fats should be explain (of what it is) in products where a substantial amount is present.
Again, this could easily be remedied by a simple nutrition class. Why explain it on every single package (thus increasing the size of the nutrition table), when you could just as easily inform the public as to the nature of these fats. You might also want to inform them that you get 9 calories per gram of fat, but only 4 for carbohydrates (including sugars), and 4 for proteins. You also get 7 calories per gram of alcohol.
Lastly no nutritional labels should be in the box; the entire label should be on the outside of the box.
What products put labels inside the box?
Fat food companies should have labels on all food and drinks somewhere on the package or wrapper with all the guidelines mentioned above.
Restaurants should also have nutritional information for all their food. Did you know that the Bloomin' Onion at Outback has over 100 grams (or maybe it was only like 54 grams) of fat per serving? Talk about a heart attack on a plate...
~C
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