By SOFIA ORTEGA
It is funny how food companies trick costumers with their food labels by only listing amount per servings and the calories of the portion.
But, do people really have time to split the package by portions?
Most people would eat an entire bag of Doritos without knowing the calories for the whole bag, and what is true for many. People do not really take the time to split the bag of Doritos into the servings listed in the nutritional label.
However, it seems that from now on people are really going to know and understand the amount of calories they consume.
For the first time since 1990s, the federal Food and Drug Administration proposed changes to the food labels required to appear in the back of each package in order to reflect the real quantities Americans eat daily.
The label will be redesigned making it easier for consumers to understand it. Some packages will be required to show the amount per serving and per package, percent values will be shown on a left column, the amount of calories will be bigger, added sugars will have to be labeled, as well as the percentage of Vitamin D and potassium.
The FDA announced the new requirements at Michelle Obama’s fourth anniversary ceremony of her campaign “Let’s Move” destined to reduce obesity in the country.
“Our guiding principle here is very simple: that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an item off the shelf, and tell whether it’s good for your family,”
In the United States, data from a study made in 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 69.2 percent of adults of 20-years-old and older are overweight or obese.
The attempts of reducing obesity rates offer multiply benefits for the country. Of course, if obesity rates decrease there will be less people suffering or dying from diabetes, heart diseases, strokes and even cancer.
The changes may impact enormously food companies. Some business will reduce the amount of food per package to not loose costumers. Showing the real nutritional information will alarm people making them more aware of what they are really eating.