NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, December 3, 1992
White House announces food-labeling regulations
Rules will make nutritional value more comparable
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The White House unveiled food labeling rules yesterday that for the first time will enable consumers to directly compare the nutritional value of every packaged food in the grocery store.
Labels on all processed foods will not only show calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein, but will also put them all in the context of a recommended daily diet of 2,000 calories and 65 grams of fat.
Such designations as "low-fat," "high-fiber" and "light" will be based on federally imposed definitions. Serving sizes will be uniform.
Health and nutrition groups praised the decision, but a meat industry off-
cial said the labels would confuse people.
Currently, high-fat foods rarely carry nutrition information. Labels that do include such information often base it on varied serving sizes and words used to describe food have no set meaning.
"To put it simply, the Tower of Babel in food labels has come down, and American consumers are the winners," said Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan.
"The gimmicks are gone," said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler.
Agriculture Secretary Edward Madigan, who had opposed putting the sample diet on the labels, said he supported the decision and expected quick implementation of the rule.
Sullivan said food companies would likely begin putting the new labels on their foods next year, but would not be required to do so until May 1994.
He estimated the process of changing hundreds of thousands of labels would cost industry about $2 billion.
The labeling rules will not apply to restaurant menus, but any restaurant that posts a sign advertising a low-fat food must make sure the food compiles with the government's definition.
The label will state explicitly that a serving of macaroni and cheese, for example, with 13 grams of fat, would comprise 30 percent of the total fat that someone on a 2,000 calorie diet should have for the day.
Kessler and Sullivan had insisted in a dispute within the administration that packaged food labels include the chart that presents each nutrient as a percentage of a total daily diet.
Kessler and Sullivan said that the government will be conducting an extensive education campaign to help people use the labels.
The point, they said, was to enable consumers to better control their diets as a safeguard against chronic diseases. Health officials link fat with heart disease and some cancers. Sodium has been linked to high blood pressure.
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