Would New Nutrition Labels Help or Harm?
By February 13


Let’s face it, not everyone checks nutrition facts before chowing down. They don’t exactly stand out on the packaging, and sometimes they’re just confusing. That’s why the FDA wants to encourage manufacturers to post important nutritional information, like calorie counts, on the front of food packages. And that’s not all. They also want to increase serving sizes on these labels to be more realistic (because, really, who eats one ounce–aka 6 chips–of Tostitos Hint of Lime at a time?)

“If people don’t understand the serving, whatever number they get for fat or calories is misleading,” former FDA official William K. Hubbard told the New York Times, and he certainly has a point. If you glance at the calories on that bag of Tostitos chips, you might think you’re consuming about 150 calories per sitting. But because the serving size is 6 chips, you could easily be consuming two or three times that number of calories.

The FDA expects these changes will help you make better choices when it comes to eating, but some people think they might do more harm than good. Increasing the serving size could send the message that it’s okay to eat more than usual.

Would you check the calories and/or nutrition info on your favorite snacks if it was on the front of the packaging? Have you noticed any unrealistic portion sizes on snacks?

Photo by: ashleigh290