The New Food Label

With 68.8% of Americans overweight or obese does making the Calories and the Nutrition Facts on food labels larger and bolded have any consequence on the ever rising US health problem? According to the FDA this change "will help people make informed decisions" about the foods they consume. I wonder how many Americans peruse nutritional labels, or can even conprehend their value. While some studies show that displaying calorie count on lunch menus does cause a 100 calorie choice deficit, I have to wonder if this is a choice made by the already health conscious individual, and does this behavior have any carryover to packing food labels.

Let us pretend that these minute changes have value. How do we drive people to view them? Is this like the carriage without the horse? 

On the upside, 

• if you are concerned about your vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, and Potassium intake you can find these on the new label. 
• I do like the change to add "total sugar" and the "added sugar" designations. 
• "Calories from fat" has been removed due to the hoopla around the saturated fat studies, I suppose. Curiously thought, cholesterol remains on the label. 
• The serving sizes will also be adapted to reflect what people are expected to consume. 

So, if you read nutrition labels you will enjoy the revisions, and if you don't maybe this blurb will make you curiousier and curiouser.