The NEW Nutrition Facts Label

I'm going to eat half of a pint of ice cream and not feel guilty.

How does this sound to you?

We all know we don't feel this way after eating more than the recommended serving on any given food package. Whether it be ice cream, soda, pasta, or potato chips. Twelve potato chips is a serving?! Forget about it, that's not enough. Before you know it, half of the entire bag is gone and you don't think twice about it. That is until you get on the scale the next day.

But how would you feel about if I told you that now you CAN eat half of the bag and it's now considered a single serving?

Wait, what?!

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing an update to the Nutrition Facts label found on most food packages in the United States. Not only will this help people to better understand how much they are actually eating, but it will also break down the most important nutrition facts in the food.

Here is a glance of the label before and after:
 

So what's different about this new label?

1. Proposed Serving Size

The recommended serving on a food package is not what people actually eat in reality. Let's be real, who eats a 1/2 cup cooked pasta? It just isn't enough. Now with the new label, the portion size is re-adjusted to what people actually eat. So instead of four servings in a pint of ice cream, there will now be two. This gives people a better look at how much they actually really eat.


2. Better Understanding of Nutrition Science

In addition, the new label is going to require information about "added sugars." Many experts recommend consuming less calories from added sugar because it decreases the intake of "nutrient-dense" foods thus increasing calorie intake, and leads to weight gain.

The new label will also provide percent daily values of nutrients including sodium, dietary fiber and Vitamin D. Potassium and Vitamin D are now considered new "nutrients of public health significance."

And lastly, the total calories from fat is to be removed because it is not the most important value to be concerned about, rather it is the total fat, saturated fat and trans fat.

3. Refreshed Design

The new label will now have bigger and bolder letters of the the most important facts. The serving size and calories will be bigger and bolder to emphasize the importance of health, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Also, the percent daily values will now be shifted to the left of the label so it would come first. This is very important because it tells you how much nutrients you are getting from a certain food in the context of a total daily diet.

So what do you all think about this change?
Do you prefer the old or new version?

If you want to read more on the topic, visit fda.gov.