Report: Food labels need easy system to aid consumers

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Just as that Energy Star tag helps you choose your appliances, a new report says a rating symbol on the front of every soup can, cereal box and yogurt container could help hurried shoppers go home with the most-healthful foods.

Thursday’s report urges the Food and Drug Administration to adopt new food labeling to clear the confusing clutter off today’s packages and give consumers a fast way to compare choices.

It wouldn’t replace the in-depth Nutrition Facts panel that’s now on the back or side of food packages. But few shoppers stop to read or heed that fine print in the middle of the grocery aisle.

The Institute of Medicine says it’s time to put right upfront the most important information for health: how many calories per serving — and just how big that serving is — along with stars or some other symbol to show at a glance how the food rates for certain fats, sodium and added sugars.

“American shoppers are busy shoppers,” said Ellen Wartella, a psychology professor at Northwestern University. Wartella chaired the IOM committee that studied the issue at the request of federal health officials.

“We want a really simple system that says if you have three marks, that product is healthier than one with two marks.”

How to get Americans to eat more wisely is a huge problem as obesity and diet-related diseases are skyrocketing. The FDA already was working to change the food-labeling system to make it more user-friendly and has promised to crack down on inaccurate labeling that has confused consumers.

But ranking a food’s healthfulness, rather than just providing consumers information to try to judge that for themselves, would mark a major shift in government food policy. The agency didn’t say if it was interested in that kind of ratings approach or how soon it would make labeling changes but called Thursday’s report a thoughtful analysis that would help it decide next steps.