New Nutrition Facts Label Finalized By Food and Drug Administration
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Food and Drug Administration has finalized the new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods sold in the U.S.
First Lady Michelle Obama first announced the changes to the label in February 2014, the day after the fourth anniversary of her Let's Move! initiative.
"I am thrilled that the FDA has finalized a new and improved Nutrition Facts label that will be on food products nationwide," the First Lady said in a release Friday. "This is going to make a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices."
Manufacturers will need to use the new label by July 26, 2018. The label had not been significantly updated since its initial release twenty years ago.
The new Nutrition Facts label will include:
- An updated design to highlight "calories" and "servings"
- Requirements for serving sizes that more closely reflect the amounts of food that people actually eat
- Declaration of grams and a percent daily value (%DV) for "added sugars"
- "Dual column" labels to indicate both "per serving" and "per package" calorie and nutrition information (Examples include a pint of ice cream and a 3-ounce bag of chips. With dual-column labels available, people will be able to easily understand how many calories and nutrients they are getting if they eat or drink the entire package/unit at one time)
- For packages that are between one and two servings, such as a 20 ounce soda, the calories and other nutrients will be required to be labeled as one serving because people typically consume it in one sitting.
- Updated daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber and vitamin D
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