Getting Healthy May Be Getting Easier With New Labels

One of the greatest parts to getting healthy is to watch what you are eating.  Most find it a real burden to read the fine print on the back or side of food packaging just to get the information they will need to make informed options about their food.  In an attempt to promote health and boost consumer awareness the most vital of the nutritional information on food packages will soon be featured on the front of the package.

This comes at the prompting of first lady, Michelle Obama, who challenged food manufacturers to help Americans make much healthier food selections and to help fight unhealthy weight in the U.S. Originally this was going to be a government mandated change however once talks between the FDA and the White House broke down it appeared as if the changes were going no where fast.  The debate was not about putting some nutritional information on the front of the packages, but was more about which information should be included whether it should list vitamins and minerals or calories and grams of sugar.

For now it appears as if American based manufacturers will be giving this new labeling a whirl in the coming months.  The plan which was unveiled to the public on Monday is called Nutrition Keys and currently calls for at least four nutritional facts to be included on the front of packages and these include calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar content.

Obesity is an expanding problem throughout the U.S. and is the cause of a lot of health situations.  The new labeling should provide consumers with a much better overview of the choices they make and should also push companies to develop products that are healthier than those of their competitors.  With the labeling on the front, food manufacturers won’t be able to conceal the nutritional information for the products and this will help to encourage both consumers to eat healthier and manufacturers to produce finer quality foods.

Of course, the new labeling did come with some compromises and as a result in addition to the four key nutritional facts each company will have the ability to insert two other informational facts to the front of their packaging of their choice highlighting the healthier side of the foods which they are selling.  While the new labeling is a large step in the right direction, hopes are that it will move to include further nutritional information for consumers in the future.  In any event, it is a step in the right direction for those Americans who are looking to eat healthier.