January 31, 2013

Next Generation Nutrition Facts Label: What to Add or Ax?

A recent Washington Post op-ed,  FDA Should Revamp Nutrition Labels, by Michael Jacobson, PhD, and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, got me thinking about what I would add or ax from the next generation Nutrition Facts label. Yes, rumor has it we may eventually see a next generation Nutrition Facts label. Jacobson’s op-ed indicated sometime in 2013 as did a well written HuffPost Food blog, but I’m not holding my breath!

It does looks like we will soon, (ah, a relative term when speaking about government regulations), see more Nutrition Facts for standard menu items in restaurants and retail food establishments, thanks due to the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Any additional Nutrition Facts are welcomed!

Our current Nutrition Facts label came into being due to the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and began appearing on packaged foods around 1994.

 

Warshaw quoted in Arizona Republic story "Restaurant Chains Prepare for New Menu-Labeling Rules"

Writer Angeligue Soenarie quotes Warshaw in Arizona Republic (Sun, 4/17/11) in "Restaurant Chains Prepare for New Menu-Labeling Rules". The story discusses how restaurant chains across the U.S. are preparing for and coping with the recently proposed menu-labeling rules from FDA expected to go into effect sometime in 2012.