New FDA rule could require nutrition information to be on front of packaged foods

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday a proposal to require most food products to display nutrition information on the front of the package.

The front-of-package (FOP) nutrition label — or the “Nutrition Info box”— would include information on three key nutrients: saturated fat, sodium and added sugar content.

The FOP label would indicate whether the food product contained “Low,” “Med” or “High” levels of each nutrient and would include the percent daily value of each nutrient.

The FOP label would not replace the standard Nutrition Facts label, which would still be included on the back of food products to provide more detailed information about nutrition.

The proposal is designed to make it easier for consumers to make more health-conscious choices about what food to eat.

The FDA said the proposal is part of a “government-wide effort in combatting the nation’s chronic disease crisis,” noting that the three selected nutrients are all “directly linked with chronic diseases when consumed in excess.”

“The science on saturated fat, sodium and added sugars is clear,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a statement. “Nearly everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic disease that is due, in part, to the food we eat.”

“It is time we make it easier for consumers to glance, grab and go,” he continued. “Adding front-of-package nutrition labeling to most packaged foods would do that. We are fully committed to pulling all the levers available to the FDA to make nutrition information readily accessible as part of our efforts to promote public health.”

The proposal comes after the FDA conducted an experimental study of nearly 10,000 U.S. adults in 2023 to “identify which FOP schemes enabled participants to make quicker and more accurate assessments of the healthfulness of a product based on the levels of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars displayed.”

The study examined consumer responses to three types of labels. The findings led to the FDA's proposal for the label, which is designed as a small black-and-white box similar to the easily recognizable Nutrition Facts label.

“The experimental study showed that the black and white Nutrition Info scheme with the percent Daily Value performed best in helping consumers identify healthier food options,” the press release said.

If finalized, the proposed rule would require businesses with $10 million or more in annual food sales to add the FOP nutrition label three years after the final rule’s effective date. Businesses with less than $10 million in annual food sales would have four years to add the label after the final rule’s effective date.

The proposal comes less than a week before President Biden is set to leave office and as President-elect Trump prepares to take the helm in Washington.

Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department, which houses the FDA and other health agencies.

Kennedy has been critical of the processed food industry. He said Democrats have “stood by watching other countries ban these poisons that make our kids sick” and pledged to “stop the mass poisoning of American children.”