Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403130024
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Starting this spring, almost every package of food in U.S. grocery stores will carry new labels designed to cut the confusion over just what those foods contain. No more wondering if "Lite" means healthy or pulling out a calculator to decipher the fat content.
"A few square inches has such an enormous ability to impact on the public's health," said David Kessler, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner who pushed the change through Congress.
Now, only 60 percent of food makers use labels that tell how much fat, sodium, fiber and vitamins the food contains.
Many that do often just confuse people. A box of cheesecake Kessler discovered claimed to have reduced fat and calories - but only because the new version contained a smaller piece of cake.
Some labels get the math wrong. Columbia University researchers found dieters were doomed by some foods that contained 85 percent more calories than the label said.
And some labels require intricate calculations to figure out how much fat or sodium is in one serving out of an entire box.
Beginning on May 8, food processors must put new, standard labels on each package. Some companies have already started, but it's "a herculean task," said C. Manly Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
The new label, in bold, larger print, is fairly simple.
Called "Nutrition Facts," it lists a standard serving size for each food that is larger - and more realistic - than many companies now use, said Mary Abbott Hess of the American Dietetic Association. Then come the calories per serving.
But the most vital information is how much fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber and nutrients are in each serving. They are listed no longer merely by the number of milligrams of each, but as a percentage of a person's daily allotment.
by CNB