The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to change how we shop.
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the agency proposed a new front-facing label for most food and drinks to help consumers easily identify healthier food choices. The labels would be called a front-of-package nutrition label and give “consumers readily visible information about a food’s saturated fat, sodium and added sugars content.”
Those three nutrients, the FDA said, are “directly linked with chronic diseases when consumed in excess.”
The proposed label – developed from a literature review, focus groups and an experimental study – would plainly show whether the food has low, med, or high levels of saturated fat, sodium or added sugars, and complement the current nutrition facts label.
Getty
The FDA states that “chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, are the leading cause of disability and death in the U.S.,” further noting that 60% of Americans have at least one chronic disease.
“The science on saturated fat, sodium and added sugars is clear,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D said in a statement. “Nearly everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic disease that is due, in part, to the food we eat. It is time we make it easier for consumers to glance, grab and go. Adding front-of-package nutrition labeling to most packaged foods would do that. We are fully committed to pulling all the levers available to the FDA to make nutrition information readily accessible as part of our efforts to promote public health.”
Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy director for human foods, added, “Food should be a vehicle for wellness, not a contributor of chronic disease. In addition to our goal of providing information to consumers, it’s possible we’ll see manufacturers reformulate products to be healthier in response to front-of-package nutrition labeling. Together, we hope the FDA’s efforts, alongside those of our federal partners, will start stemming the tide of the chronic disease crisis in our country.”
If finalized, the proposed rule would require large food manufacturers to add the label within three years, while smaller businesses would have an additional year.
Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told NPR that many countries use nutrition labels only as a warning against food high in salt, sugar or fat.
The outlet reports that packaged food sold in Chile, for example, has a stop sign symbol on the front if the item is high in the identified nutrients. Since enacted in 2016, research found that consumers in the country purchased “significantly fewer calories, sugar, saturated fat and sodium than would have been expected had the law and its regulations not gone into effect,” per UNC-Chapel Hill’s Global Food Research Program.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The FDA also recently announced that it’s banning Red No. 3, a common food dye that appears in beverages, candy, snacks and more, due to cancer risks.
“The FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in human or animals,” Jones said in a statement. “Evidence shows cancer in laboratory male rats exposed to high levels of FD&C Red No. 3.”
The move comes over a year after California banned the ingredient — which is already banned in the European Union.