After the roll out of the new 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines, updates to the nutrition labels on food products has finally been unveiled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nutrition labels are intended to allow consumers to make healthier dietary decisions (and are a product of the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act).

Immediately, I noted that the calories per serving is much larger and in bold print with no notation of how many calories are derived from fat. The serving size is also in bold print. One of the more interesting changes is the addition of the Added Sugar notation under the Total Sugar. This is intended to allow the consumer to see the amount of additional sugar that is added to the food product with the hopes that the consumer will make a more educated decision about consuming the food.

Vitamin and mineral content has changed a bit as well. There is the addition of Vitamin D with actual content and percent of daily value noted, and the deletion of Vitamins A and C from the label. Potassium content and percent of daily value will now be provided.

These new labels will be appearing soon as the mandates require most manufacturers to comply by July 26, 2018.

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