UNITED STATES discuss new rules for labelling of foods

The Government of the United States yesterday announced a revamp on nutrition labelling that is being organised for more than a decade and represents the growing concern of consumers with health and with ingredients used in processed products.
The new labels alter the portions served, display more clearly the calorie count and include information about the sugars added, measures that health advocates have long been trying to implement. Is the first update of the food labels in over 20 years, since they were introduced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The proposal includes more realistic portions sizes for many items. Few consumers consider a bar of chocolate or a bottle of 500 ml soda as more of a portion, and the new labels reflect this. They also increase the sizes of portions of some items to reflect the parts that people generally ingest. A pint of ice cream is classified as two parts, and, instead of the current four, for example.
"By law, the information of the labels on the sizes of the portions need to be based on what people actually eat, and not what ' should ' be eating", said the FDA.
The new rules address a question cited a long by health advocates: that current labels do not reveal the amount of added sugar in products ranging from pasta sauces to white bread. Manufacturers will have to distinguish between the sugar naturally existing products and sugar added for them.
The FDA will issue a final rule on the proposal after a period of 90 days set aside for public comments. Companies will have two years to make the changes.
Packaged food companies, which are adopting initiatives to ease the concerns of consumers by removing controversial ingredients and emphasizing the products perceived as "healthier", are generally optimistic about the proposed changes.
Nestle says it "recognizes the importance of presenting clear information to help consumers make healthier choices about their diet, and we commend efforts to carry forward this cause."
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which represents the American industry of food, beverages and packaged products, said it will work with the FDA regulatory process. "Diets, dietary patterns and consumer preferences have changed dramatically since the Nutrition Facts labels have been implemented," he told GMA. "It is very important that any change is based on the most current and reliable scientific grounds."
The American Beverage Association, which represents companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, said that many of the proposals are consistent with the changes already implemented voluntarily by our members ". She said the companies are labeling 700 ml drinks as individual portions and displaying the calorie count in front of their packaging since 2010, when Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, launched its campaign "Let's Move" anti-obesity. The proposed rules on Thursday will make the measure about portion sizes a federal requirement for the first time. Michelle Obama announced the changes at the White House on the fourth anniversary of his initiative "Let's Move" and days after it unveiled tougher guidelines for advertising of junk food in schools. She has made the health, exercise and nutrition your brand in the passage by the u.s. Government.
"The principle that moves us is very simple: you, as a parent and consumer should be able to go to the grocery store who frequents, get an item off the shelf and be able to tell if it's good for his family," said Michelle Obama on Thursday.
The news was given two days after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the center of disease prevention control USA) announce a 43% drop in the rate of obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years in the last decade, a hopeful sign that the US is able to reverse the obesity epidemic. About 8% of children in this age group were obese in 2012, as compared to 14% in 2004.
But obesity among adults is still very common in the USA-affects a third of the population. Medical conditions related to obesity cost the nation $ 150 billion per year, according to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of health and human services.
The current nutritional labels began appearing on packages of food in 1994, after the approval of a 1990 law requiring it.
Health advocates have long argued that they were inadequate, although they have been successful in a single significant change: the addition in 2006 information on trans fats in 2013 the FDA moved to ban partially hydrogenated oils.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer advocacy organization that lobbied for the passage of the original law in 1990, noted that the FDA also should include on the label a "daily value" for the added sugar and reduce the daily value for sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams.