A Whole New Outlook on the Evolution of Nutrition

Thankfully, nutrition has evolved and is providing clarity on information regarding nutrition labels, recommended serving sizes, daily value percentages, nutrition intake, and included added sugar listings*. This creates more trust between food manufacturers and consumers giving people a sense of confidence in selecting their food choices.

Consumers can expect to see a difference in the nutrition labels thanks to the FDA in establishing and updating serving sizes for various foods and requires all that all labels for a given product use the same serving size*. By reading these labels usually located on the back of the product and sometimes on the front people can find valuable information regarding their serving sizes for foods such as ice cream and pasta. In addition to reading the labels, a person may also go on the FDA website https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/food-serving-sizes-get-reality-check to learn more about serving sizes.

If a person cannot determine the nutritional information on their actual serving size, they may find this information on a variety of government agencies’ websites.

Thankfully, people can find trustworthy information to help them determine nutritional information by going on these agencies’ websites*. These agencies include the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute on Aging. These agencies are also known as the FDA, CDC, NIH, and NIA. References to these websites are listed at the end of this essay. In addition to those people may use Choose My Plate which is a tool created by the FDA and can be found online. Lastly, people may search the FDA’s Food Database on their website https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/.

Not surprisingly most people do not trust the food industry according to a study from The Center of Food Integrity “Only 33% of customers trust the food industry” *. Beverage manufacturers are taking positive action by changing the labels on their products even before they are required to. By doing so the manufacturers are creating trust with the consumers and educating them on their proper recommended intake.

In conclusion, people now have access to more valuable information and companies are stepping up and doing their part to clear out misleading information. With new and updated nutritional labels, research, and critical thinking skills people can now make a clearer choice regarding their food choices.

*References*

Page 56-57 from “Understanding Nutrition” by Whitney Rolfes

*Government websites to help people determine nutritional information

1. https://www.fda.gov/food/new-nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label

2. https://www.fda.gov/food/new-nutrition-facts-label/serving-size-new-nutrition-facts-label

3. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/reading-food-labels

4. https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/strategies-guidelines/nutrition-facts-label.html

Study with The Center for Food Integrity

https://www.fooddive.com/news/only-33-of-consumers-trust-the-food-system-study-finds/514769/

by Jerry Ringi
9/20/2020

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