As of today, food labels can no longer stretch the truth - and that is good news. There will be no more claims that a product has "no cholesterol," and no more claims that a product is extra lean, has reduced fat, or is high in fiber - unless it really is.
The new law, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, has been a long time coming - 10 years. But it appears to be worth the wait.The most significant difference between the old labels and the new labels is the nutrition information panel designed to show shoppers how one food fits into an overall daily diet.
The new panel will sport a new look that says in bold letters, "Nutrition Facts," and includes not only the amount of certain nutrients in absolute terms, stated in grams or milligrams, but also the percentages of "daily value" - a recommended daily consumption for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and fiber.
Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, the new rules make it more difficult to inflate nutritional values. Foods will have to meet specific criteria before they can be described with terms like "low fat" or "high fiber."
This is the first significant change on food labels in 20 years, since voluntary nutrition labeling was introduced in the mid-1970s. The food industry strenuously opposed the original nutrition label, but after living with it and discovering it had no appreciable impact on sales, were eager to keep it the same.
It is to be hoped the new labels will have a more profound impact.
Dr. David Kessler, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, is convinced that anyone, even children, can easily understand the new labels. The way to read them, he says, is to read the percentage of daily value. If it is less than 5 percent, it should be considered low. If the daily value of fat is 50 percent, then it's one half of a person's daily value.
In fact, a recent survey by "The Toledo Blade" seems to support Kess-ler's claim. A team of investigators took a box of products with the new labels to two elementary schools and tested them on the students. They gave the students an A grade, thus demonstrating that the labels are actually easy enough for children to understand.
The overall message of the new labels is still the same - balance, variety and moderation in everything.
After May 8, companies must put the new labels on whatever comes off their production lines. That includes about 90 percent of processed packaged foods. Starting July 8, similar labeling will be required on meat and poultry products, which are regulated by the Agriculture Department rather than the FDA.
Although the new labeling has been controversial, it should be welcomed as a vast improvement and a useful public health tool.