200-300 words will be enough
Read the question in the blow:
Complete 1 thru 6 below (about 7 minutes in viewing videos/reading article) in addition to reading sections 2.4 and 2.5 in your text or eText. The eText is better for these particular sections since the pictures may seem more clear. Once you have done so, see the questions at the bottom for your response.
1) Read all of Section 2.5 in the text, including Figure 2.11, Interpreting the current and proposed Nutrition Facts panel as well as looking at Table 2.5, Descriptors Commonly Used on Food Labels and Figure 2.14 Health Claims on Labels. For those of you with a physical text, these are pages 51-59.
For the first time since the mid-90s, the Federal government has changed the Nutrition Facts Label on food products.
2) For background, please view the following from 2014:
3) As you have read in Chapter 2, the nutrition facts panel can be fairly complex if not used routinely.
Besides having to indicate the serving size and calories, which does not always convey what is inside of one small package (because a bag of chips can have 2.5 servings, for example), some of the current rules which apply include labeling a food item as “fat-free” even if there is half a gram in the product. The same is true for sugars (0.5 grams can be rounded down to zero for a label!). In addition, a “lowfat” can have up to 3 grams of fat by labeling requirements. Also, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium amounts (DV’s) must be included for the label. The Daily Value (DV) is used to compare products based on a 2000 calorie-a-day (or 2500) diet. They are hoping the changes that will make the label more “user-friendly.”
4) Read Section 2.4 in your text. To give you a real-life idea of serving sizes, watch these 3, 90 second videos:
5) View this Video Bite 3 minute video. Incidentally, these videos are quite cute because they always include an amusing skit by actors depicting our real lives.
These changes to serving size may or may not be the right choice. Increasing the serving size may make us eat more and not less since the package may in fact have more in a serving. For example, if the serving had been half a cup of granola cereal, and they make it one cup because it is easier for consumers to understand one cup (8ounces), then if a package contains two cups, you may be having twice as much as you did before the change because the package is bigger and dthe previous serving size was half a cup (or even in some cases with granola in particular, a quarter cup! when the granola is quite dense). Americans must understand serving sizes and calories in a serving or this change in packaging may do more harm than good.
6) An interesting and puzzling update to the news regarding release of the new nutrition labels (as well as a link about postsponing required menu labeling); though from what I understand, all “new” labels should be on on products by the end of 2018:
For this discussion, tell us what you think about the future nutrition label and nutrition facts panel by choosing any of the points below or make your own (pick one or two for discussion, you do not need to answer all, they are just a guideline to discussion); expand on those you find of most interest or perhaps an observation not listed):
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