Dive Brief:
- Members of the House and Senate have introduced a bill, the Food Labeling Modernization Act, which aims to update rules that haven't been changed since 1990, some since 1938.
- Labeling rules would include a standardized label for the front of a product that "clearly displays information about calories, serving sizes, and important nutrients, with the goal that consumers will be able to use this panel to easily compare otherwise similar products," Consumerist reported.
- The Dept. of Health and Human Services would also be tasked with defining labeling terms like "natural," "healthy," and "made with whole grains," and labels would need to include information about added colors and flavors and added sugars.
Dive Insight:
"When ‘whole grain’ waffles can be made with white flour and ‘all natural’ ingredients can contain synthetic high-fructose corn syrup, it’s clear our food labels are due for a makeover," Laura MacCleery, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science and Public Interest, said in a news release.
The FDA has proposed added sugar requirements, and also recently requested public comment on when "natural" should appear on food labels.
Overhauling a product label costs time and money, and when that overhaul means including information about a product that could turn off consumers, the potential labeling requirements are less likely to earn much support from manufacturers.
Having to include this type of information, some of which would be more prominent on the label than before, could encourage more companies to adopt a clean label, which is becoming increasingly important to the growing demographic of health-conscious consumers.