A few posts ago - the one titled Labels Everywhere - I began a discussion of front of pack labeling of which I am a big fan. Today I was exploring the Institute of Medicine's website because they are supposed to be evaluating the concept and then making recommendations on which FOP sign post would be best and what it should involve based on expert opinion and clinical studies with consumers. I found a power point presentation from the Rudd Center for Food Policy on the website. It was used in one of the open meetings. It seems most of the committee meetings are closed, and there is one later this month.
The IOM should be making recommendations by the end of this year. The study presented in the power point was illuminating and I contacted one of the authors re why they were saying that the 2000 calorie diet phrase was to be on the label, esp,. because in their own research it did not make a real difference on the consumers behavior.
Most of what I have read about FOP labeling has come from Europe and today I found a USA based article that I have begun reading. I will give you more on this in the next day or two.
I am happy to say that both pieces of literature noted the multiple traffic light label as the "best" on several measures. If you are wondering what the FOP label really is - it is taking some items often found on the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) and putting them on the front of the package. You are already seeing this on some products, but the food manufacturers that are placing them there are not necessarily promoting a healthy food. Recall I recently noted a snack cake package that had all the info on the front, including that the calories per cake was 150. That is FOP labeling. The debate is whether or not to let the food industry decide on the labels or to have FDA supported scientific health promoting criteria and standardized formats across all products - say yes, the second one!
Stay tuned for more. You can see the same PPT that I viewed, by clicking here.
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