The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published its new Nutrition Facts Label to be published on all packaged foods beginning in July 2018, designed to help people make healthier nutrition choices.
The new updates are designed to help people who have serious chronic conditions, such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes. With these labels, they can more accurately meet the unique needs of their diets.
For example, people who have lupus have higher chances of developing osteoporosis. Doctors recommend that lupus patients eat foods high in vitamin D and calcium, keeping their bones strong, and low in fatty and salty foods, reducing their blood pressure and cholesterol. With better labels on packaged foods, lupus patients can follow these recommendations more easily.
The improved labels will include details about added sugars, which are sugars that food producers use to process foods. There will also be information about the various nutrients, like vitamin D, contained within the item.
Packages will feature clear nutrition information in general, like a larger font for calories per serving -- and in portion sizes that are similar to what people eat -- making the information easier to see.
