Smart Choices is a new food-labeling campaign that has been supported by many of the country’s biggest food manufacturers. It “is designed to help shoppers identify smarter food choices and beverages.” Read more about Fruit Loops Nutrition Facts!
The green checkmark label, which is beginning to appear on supermarket shelves, will be found on hundreds of packages. This includes sugar-laden cereals such as Cocoa Krispies or Froot Loops.
Walter C. Willett (chair of Harvard School of Public Health’s nutrition department) said, “These are terrible choices.”
He claimed that the Smart Choices Program’s criteria were flawed and allowed unhealthy products like sweet cereals or salted packaged meals to be approved. Mr. Willett stated, “It’s an astonishing failure of this system, and it makes it not credible,”
Fruit Loops Nutrition Facts
The Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration also contributed to the discussion, writing a letter to the program’s managers on August 19, stating that they would monitor its impact on food choices of consumers.
In a letter, the agency stated that it would be concerned if Smart Choices labels encouraged consumers to choose processed foods and refined grains over fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Because of the country’s obesity epidemic, experts believe that it is linked to a diet high in processed foods, which are loaded with calories, fats, and sugar, the government is keen to improve nutrition labeling on packaged products.
Also, read Fruity Pebbles Nutrition Facts!
As many people in the food industry and government debate how to display information on packages, the prominently displayed label is now available. It includes important elements that are not found on the back of the product’s nutrition facts box.
Continue reading the main story
Eileen T. Kennedy is president of Smart Choices and dean of Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science Science and Policy. She stated that the criteria for the program were based on accepted nutritional standards and government dietary guidelines.
She explained that the program was also influenced in part by consumer behavior research. The research revealed that shoppers did not want to be told negative messages, nor felt like their choices were being made for them.
Dr. Kennedy stated that a checkmark indicates that the food item is better for you than a product with an x. Consumers are smart enough to see that the checkmark is a sign that it isn’t a better product. They want to be able to choose. They don’t like being told “You must do that.”
Kennedy, who isn’t paid for her work on this program, defends the products endorsed. Froot Loops was better for children than any other products parents could choose.
Dr. Kennedy stated, recalling a hypothetical parent at the supermarket. Froot Loops is a better option.
Froot Loops is eligible for the label due to its compliance with the Smart Choices Program standards for fiber and Vitamins A, C and because it doesn’t exceed sugar, fat and sodium limits. Froot Loops contains the maximum sugar permitted under the program for cereals (12 grams per serving), which is 41% of the product measured by weight. This is more sugar than many other brands of cookies.
Celeste A. Clark (senior vice president, global nutrition, Kellogg’s), stated that Froot Loops are a great source of essential vitamins and minerals, and it also contains 12 grams of sugar. “One ingredient is not enough to judge the nutritional value of a food product.”
Continue reading the main story
Dr. Clark is a member the Smart Choices board. He stated that the Smart Choices program’s sugar content was in line with federal guidelines, which state that small amounts of sugar can enhance the taste of nutrient-dense foods such as breakfast cereals. This, theoretically, would encourage people to eat more cereals, which could increase their intake of nutrients.
Ten companies have already signed up for Smart Choices. These include Kellogg’s and Kraft Foods as well as ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods and ConAgra Foods. Participating companies pay as much as $100,000 per year for the Smart Choices program. The fee is based on the total sales of the products that bear the seal.
Smart Choices is meant to replace similar nutritional labels that manufacturers started putting on their packages many years ago.
Ms. Kennedy stated that companies joined Smart Choices and agreed to stop using their labeling systems.
Michael R. Taylor is a senior F.D.A. official. Michael R. Taylor, a senior F.D.A. adviser, stated that the agency was concerned about sugar-laden cereals or high-fat foods being labeled as nutritionally superior.
Mr. Taylor stated that front-of-package information should not be based on cherry-picking good things and not adequately disclosing components of products that might be less good.
Continue reading the main story
He stated that the agency would look into the possibility of creating a standard nutrition label on the package’s front.
“We are taking a hard look” at these programs, Mr. Taylor stated.
Michael Jacobson, executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest was part of the panel that created the Smart Choices nutritional criteria. He resigned last September. He claimed that the panel was dominated and influenced by the food industry, which led to biased decisions.
He said, “It was paid by industry, and when industry put its foot down and said, this is what I’m doing, that was it. End of story.” Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Clark both participated in the panel. They said that industry members did not control the results.
Jacobson voiced his disapproval at some panel’s nutritional decisions. These criteria allow foods to be awarded the Smart Choices seal for added nutrients. He said that this could hide deficiencies in the food.
Federal guidelines favor whole grains. However, breads without whole grains can still be sealed if they contain added nutrients.
Jacobson stated, “You could start with some sawdust and add calcium or Vitamin A to meet the criteria.”
Continue reading the main story
Nutritionists also questioned foods that were given the Smart Choices label. This program seals regular mayonnaise and light mayonnaise. It could make it appear that they are equally healthy. You can also have frozen meals and packed sandwiches with up to 600 mgs sodium. This is a quarter of your daily recommended intake.
Marion Nestle, a New York University nutrition professor, stated that the goal of this project is to make processed foods look as healthy as unprocessed foods.
