Deciding which foods to buy at the grocery store may soon get a little easier. A major buzz over the past few weeks has involved the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed changes to food and drink nutrition labels. The changes will be the first major makeover in the last 20 years. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, which first passed in 1990, was the first regulated food packaging requirement that mandated all packaged foods to have nutrition facts and health claims. With the variety of packaged food products on store shelves today, many health professionals felt these changes are well overdue.The alterations of the nutrition label, as seen above, will spotlight calories and will update serving sizes to match what consumers actually eat or drink. For example, a 20 ounce soda that is usually consumed in one sitting will no longer be two and a half servings. Instead, its label will represent the nutrition information for one serving, making the label more user-friendly. Another addition to the new label will be a line for added sugars. Although natural sugar and added sugar are chemically the same, studies show that many Americans typically eat more sugar than they realize. By adding an additional line to the nutrition label to draw focus to packaged foods’ added sugar content, it will allow consumers to gain a better understanding of what they choose to eat and drink.All in all, these proposed changes will help shoppers by making it easier to pinpoint a healthier option when comparing products in the grocery aisle. What do you think of the proposed nutrition label changes? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and Twitter!Read more about the proposed changes on CNN.
