Written by ©2016 Lien Design
After two years of fighting and resistance, America is now finally updating a tool that is commonly used by everyone; A tool that has been serving every individual and family for over twenty years. Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for the new nutrition label to make its debut!
Alright, so why all of the hype about an updated nutrition label, why should the American people care? Well it’s no secret that America has been facing a weight/health problem for a while now, and a contributing factor to that problem is the nutrition labels printed on every box and can of food. With the advances that have been made in the science of nutrition and health, it has become apparent that the original nutrition labels are for the most part inaccurate. This becomes an issue for the common man when one relies on those labels to figure out what is considered to be a healthy and proper portion of food and calories.
If the advances in science have been made, and the knowledge that the nutrition labels are not up to date has been known, then why has it taken so long for the labels themselves to change? The answer is because the food industry has been fighting this change since day one. Ultimately this update will result in loss of profit for the food industries, as well as them having to shoulder some of the blame in concerns to America’s poor health due to the added sugars, improper portion sizes and large quantities of calories the labels misrepresented.
Another worry that food companies are having is that their products will become unappealing to consumers through this new change. Many experts believe that the new guidelines for the nutrition labels may lead to some major reformulations of some of the 800,000 products that use these labels. The majority of people like consistency and dependency, when one of their favorite brands changes their formula unexpectedly it can throw them into a state of distrust. Through that, individual brands and companies could end up losing millions.
Despite the food industry losses, the change is happening. Consumers will now be able to see the information more clearly as well as some added information. A few changes we can expect are as follows:
1. How Many Servings: Printed in a larger and bolder type
2. Serving Size: Has been updated to today’s standards
3. Calories: Printed in a larger and bolder type
4. New: Added sugars
If we are honest with ourselves, America’s health and weight problem is something we need to work on. With the new nutrition labels coming out in 2018, it is possible to end the cycle of unhealthy eating and begin anew.