Posted March 6, 2014
Important players in the food industry, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, plan to launch a marketing campaign to promote their “Facts Up Front,” program, according to a Politico article available here.
The marketing campaign comes just after the FDA unveiled its changes to the Nutrition Facts panel, which alters, among other things, the way serving sizes are calculated, how calories are displayed, the addition of added sugars. Additional information on the proposed rules is available here.
The “Facts Up Front” campaign is voluntary and puts “four basic icons for calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars on the front of packages and bottles.” The food industry argues that the front-of-package label makes nutrition information quick and easy for consumers and bases its argument on a study conducted by the International Food Information Council Foundation.
While many in the food industry saw the “Facts Up Front” program as a “way to preempt the proposal the FDA was crafting,” food companies are now anxious about the program’s launch because serving sizes are set to increase in many cases.
GMA CEO Pamela Bailey says the education campaign that will accompany the launch of “Facts Up Front” will provide a service to consumers, according to a Farm Futures article available here. “With Facts Up Front, we’re simplifying nutrition so everyone has the essential information needed to build more healthful diets.”
For more information on food labeling, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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