The FDA is making food labels easier to read and understand.

Changes make finding information easier with larger print on needed information. I’ve noticed finding serving size and calories easier for many products already. All companies are required to make these changes by 2020 (10 mil plus) to 2021 (less than 10 mil) based on annual sales.

A huge thank you to companies who created their new labels easier understand food labels before the deadline date. You may have noticed, but didn’t realize the change would soon be universal!

Why so happy you ask? Because information is much easier to find with bold letters and updated serving size. Changes represent a more realistic approach for product consumption. Previously, a quick glance would fool the consumer into thinking the calories shown were for the for the entire 12oz soda vs only an 8oz serving.

So why do these changes help the general public?

The realistic serving size changes impact the product additives and nutrition information. So smaller serving sizes results in lower traces amounts, which aren’t required to show on food labels.

There are so many nutrients in food, so many ingredients, so many facts to know about what’s reported as either good or not so good. Fortunately for all of us, the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) created a standardized format for the nutrition label that all processed and/or packaged consumer foods must affix to the outside of their product. So, no matter what the food, you can easily compare its value to you with that of any other food.

There are 3 fundamental areas to look for first on a nutrition label, and they’re all conveniently grouped together near the top, just under the title “Nutrition Facts”.

These changes include: increasing the type size for “Calories,” “servings per container,” and the “Serving size” declaration, and bolding the number of calories and the “Serving size” declaration to highlight this information

Changing the Servings Per Container: New Labels give total calories when a package contains 1.5 servings or less. This information makes the calories per container more realistic. Most packaged foods contain multiple servings in a single package, making it easy to miscalculate the caloric intake from that of a single serving.

Use nutrition labels to help improve health and get the most nutrition out of the calories you take in. (nutrition per calories is referred as nutrient density.)

Daily values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. 5% or less of a nutrient’s %DV is low, 20% or more of a nutrient’s %DV is high. The added sugars column is new; consume less than 10% of your daily calories from added sugar. Make sure to get plenty of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron.

With improved information, wise choices are easier for you in terms of both calories and nutrients. Whether it makes more sense for you as part of a meal or as a standalone snack. If the answers to these questions don’t satisfy you for a particular food, you can find suitable alternative.

What are your thoughts on the changed FDA food label?

D0 you feel the new FDA changes Making Food Labels Easier to Read and Understand will help you when making food choices?