Improved Nutrition Label

Caroline Dent                                                                                                  February 28, 2014

Biology Current Event                                                                          Improved Nutrition Label

Tavernise, Sabrina. "New F.D.A. Nutrition Labels Would Make ‘Serving Sizes’ Reflect Actual Servings." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/27/health/new-fda-nutrition-labels-would-make-serving-sizes-reflect-actual-servings.html?ref=science

           

The article I read was on the new nutrition labels that we spoke briefly about in class. In the New York Time, it explained the new ideas and changes of the common food label.

            The F.D.A, or the Food and Drug Administration, has recently announced that a new nutrition label for food items will be coming, in attempt to improve upon the old one. This is a big step forward for food and public health in general, as it will be the first big change to the label in two decades. This new label has many drastic changes about the requirements of it and the display of it. The way that serving sizes are displayed and calculated will change. The font will be bolder and larger, and the serving sizes will be more true to how much a person will actually eat at one time. The percentages, which are currently found on the right hand side of the label, are being moved to the left, so they are more prominent when you first look at the label. Also, the amount of Vitamin D and the amount of Potassium will be put on all the labels, while putting the amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin A will become optional. The about of calories per serving will be much larger and bolder, so it is easy to see each time you look at it. The most controversial of the changes is a new line that is being added: about of additional sugar that is added during the processing process. With all these changes, a common question asked is why is it necessary? The old food labels were based off of the food portions in the 1970’s and 1980’s, when people ate much smaller portions. Also, the general point of doing this is to make it easier for people to understand what they are eating, without all the complicated numbers. Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States of America, along with people in the F.D.A., people who study nutrition, and some people who work in the food industry are behind the idea, although it will be a controversial thought. This plan has still only been proposed, and is currently in a 90 day period when people will be able to comment on the idea, but it is assumed to cost almost 2 billion dollars to carry out.

            While most of biology is very relevant to people and all things living, this specific topic is directed at and for the people of this country. These new labels are being created for the purpose of making peoples’ life easier and healthier. The new added sugar line highlights the importance of knowing what is in your food. Also, it is found that this sugar plays a big part in obesity and diabetes, so it is important to realize what you are eating to try and stay healthy. The new sizing is meant to make more realistic to each person, and almost every part of this new label is there to make it easier to understand. Often times with the old label, many people did not know what all the different parts necessarily meant, so this is here to fix that problem. Hopefully, this will help the general health of our country, and with people’s understanding of what is good to eat. This entire new idea is created to be relevant.

            I found this article particularly interesting. After talking about it in class, I was interested when I saw this headline. I generally got the information that I wanted and expected from this article. I enjoyed the specific changes that were being made and why they were necessary. That part was very specific and it helped me to understand the relevant information about this topic. Also, I liked the outsider’s opinions of how this new act will be perceived and their personal reactions to the labels. This was a very well written article, and it was easily understood. The only major thing that I would want to change is to add more of a science aspect to it. While they talked about some of the effects on the body, there were not many references. This article was more a news update about what is happening than a formal report, but it is still important information to know.