preview

Food And Drug Administration: The Accuracy Of Food Labels

Better Essays

Whenever I eat something or go out shopping for groceries, I am often concerned about what I am about to eat has in it. Most people turn the container or packaging around to inform them of what percentage of sugars, carbohydrates or sodium is in what they are about to eat. Then majority of people would believe that since they are unhealthy, it is the labels fault for not being truthful or informative. However, when this comes to my mind, I rest assured knowing that the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, is honest about their food labels. Ever since the Food and Drug Administration was founded in 1906, because of the Food and Drugs act, this organization has put into motion better, healthy lifestyles for individuals. Even though most people …show more content…

On FDA food labels, the accuracy of the amount of substances being ingested is true. An article published by FDA Consumer shows the accuracy rates of the FDA labels, “Total Carbohydrate 98%, Total Fat 96%, Sugars 95%, Calories 93%, Saturated Fat 93%, Sodium 90%, Cholesterol 80%, Dietary Fiber 80%, Calcium 80%” (Accuracy of Information on Nutrition Labels). Although these rates are not 100%, this study was done in 1996. The article goes on to state that, “Findings were based on 2,000 laboratory tests of 300 retail food products” (Accuracy of Information on Nutrition Labels). With the limited technology of the time, these are still reliable statistics. Also, it is difficult to measure the exact quantity of some of these substances because of their molecular density. With some substances being more difficult to determine the exact amounts, it would be nearly impossible to have 100% accuracy on some of them. While with this information, people have still been able to construct healthy diets. If it were not for the accuracy of these labels, there would be not be an opportunity for anyone to be healthy, or anyone to commit to a healthy lifestyle. For example, with the knowledge of certain ingredients in what I eat, I have been able to easily and healthily change my diet. Simply put, the Food and Drug Administration is honest with the public and tries to keep people healthy. However, not only does the FDA try to keep …show more content…

The public demanded that the FDA re-work their food label, making it easier to read and comprehend. In 2014, Alexandra Sifferlin, from Time Magazine, published an article referring to how the FDA could improve and redesign their food label, stating that the labels could add “Realistic serving sizes, bolder calories, sugar breakdown, understandable measurements, and front of package placement.” Once this article got into the hand of the public, many people began urging the Food and Drug Administration to change their label. Two years later in 2016, the FDA had designed a new formatting for their food labels, adding “Serving size in a larger bolder type, updated serving sizes, calories in a larger type, updated daily values, a new line for added sugars, actual amounts as well as % daily value of nutrients” (Coming to a shelf near you: The new Nutrition Facts labels). However, the FDA did not put the label on the front of the packaging. This is because if the food label is on the back of packaging, it gave corporations the room to advertise their product on the front of the packaging. Also, many people would not be enticed to buy a product if the first thing they see is a chart. With these improvements, it is obvious that the FDA is considerate of the public, however some people still have an

Get Access