By Dalia Colón -
You may have noticed a label on the front of certain food packages summarizing the fat, sodium, sugar and caloric content.
It’s called Nutrition Keys, a voluntary labeling system that the Grocery Manufacturers of America and the Food Marketing Institute announced earlier this year.
Froot Loops contain fiber and whole grains. Does this make them a Smart Choice, Nutrition Key or none of the above? Photo from www2.kelloggs.com.
The goal, the organizations say, is to comply with First Lady Michelle Obama’s request to standardize the health claims food manufacturers had been touting on the fronts of their packaging, such as Froot Loops and Cocoa Krispies being labeled Smart Choices. (Hmmm…)
But in a commentary published in the June 23 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, two health experts say bluntly what Mrs. Obama tried to say tactfully: that Nutrition Keys is a joke.
“There are…major flaws in this approach,” write Yale University’s Kelly Brownell and Emory University’s Jeffrey Koplan. They call the timing of Nutrition Keys “suspicious at best,” questioning why the food industry doesn’t wait for recommendations from a government-commissioned study on what would be best for consumers. Those results are due out this fall.
The authors argue that Nutrition Keys is a preemptive move designed to “lock in” new food labels before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA have a chance to act. They also call the Nutrition Keys symbols confusing.
What do you think? Are health claims on food packaging helpful or harmful?
This reporter can be reached at daliacolon@wusf.org.
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| From USA Today: Our view on health: ‘Nutrition Keys’ open war on obesity |
| From Bnet.com: Yes She Did: Michelle Obama Disses New Food Industry Labeling Scheme |
| From HealthyState.org: From Pyramid To Plate |
| From HealthyState.org: Morning Rounds: Cigarette Warning Labels Going Graphic |
| From HealthyState.org: Sunscreen Labels Changing With New FDA Requirements |
| From HealthyState.org: Should Cell Phones Have Warning Labels? |
Comments
It’s also important to note that consumers are easily misled by the terms “natural” or “all-natural” on food packaging when in reality, the term often constitutes nothing more than meaningless marketing hype.