New Food Nutrition Facts Labels Finalized

The FDA finalized changes to food nutrition facts  labels on May 20, but gave food companies until July 2018 – smaller companies until 2019 – to begin using them. The agency kept the basic look (old and new labels shown at left), but increased the type size for “calories” (bold), “servings per container,” and the “serving size” declaration (bold). The actual amount, in addition to percent daily value, of vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium is required. The label will include “added sugars” in grams, vitamin D (but not vitamin A or C), potassium, calcium, iron, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat (but not calories from fat), and daily values for sodium and dietary fiber. Serving sizes must be based on amounts of foods and beverages that people actually eat, not on what they should be eating.