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NinaBamberger

10/22/15
USGovernment/Economics
Rogers5

FoodLabeling
HalfofalloverweightpeopleandathirdofallAmericanssufferfromobesity,
whichcanleadtoserioushealthproblems(thescienceinsideobesity,pg6).Analarmingonein
everythreeAmericansareobese,andnearlytwooutofeverythreeareoverweight.Theobesity
ratesintheU.Sarealmostdoublewhattheyareinothercountriesworldwide,andthisisno
coincidence.Theseshockinglyhighratesareduetonumerousproblemsinournation's
nutritionalhealththatarecommonlyoverlooked.Amongtheseproblemsliestheissueof
improperfoodlabelingspecificallyrelatedtosugar.Whenexcessamountsofsugarareingested,
thebodyhasnochoicebuttoconvertthemintofattyacids,whichareeventuallyconvertedto
fat.Thismakesexcessivesugarintakeoneofthemajorcausesofobesity.Thegoalofthisbillis
tochangethewaysugarcontentisdisplayedonfoodlabelstoincludeadailyintakereference
table,requirecompaniestodisplaytheamountofaddedsugars,andonlyallowcompaniestouse
thetermsugarfreewhentherearezerogramsofsugarpresent.Withtheseproposedchanges,
ournationwillbeonestepclosertodefeatingtheincreasingpercentagesofobeseAmericans.
Sugarisdisplayedingrams,buthowmuchreallyisagram?Youwouldrealisticallyneed
ameasuringcupinordertoclearlyunderstandjusthowmuchsugaryouareingesting.Because


ofthis,oneoftheproposedchangesistoincludeadailyintakereferencetablewhichwill
provideshopperswitharealisticvisualizationoftheamountofsugartheyareingesting.DVs
weredevelopedbytheU.S.FoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)tohelpconsumersdetermine
thelevelofvariousnutrientsinastandardservingoffoodinrelationtotheirapproximate
requirementforit.(nih.gov).Withthischange,consumerswillbeabletocomparetheamount
ofsugartheyareingestingtotheamountthatisrecommended.Thepercentdailyvalue
indicateshowmuchanutrientinaservingoffoodcontributestoadailydietandwouldhelp
consumersmakeinformedchoicesforthemselvesandtheirfamilies(fda.gov).Addingadaily
intakereferencetablewillallowconsumerstomakehealthierdecisionsabouttheirdiets,and
willprovideaneasierwaytounderstandhowmuchsugarafoodreallycontains.Requiringall
foodcompaniestodisplayadailyintakereferencetableisjustthefirststeptocreatinga
healthierandmoreawarecountry.
Addedsugarsaresugarsandsyrupsthatareaddedtofoodsorbeverageswhentheyare
processedorprepared.AsstatedbytheFDA,thesesugarsshouldrepresentonly10%ofthe
caloriesconsumed,becauseofthelimitednutrientstheycontain.Addedsugarsinfoodsand
drinksaddcaloriesthatprovidelittleornonutritionalvalue(familydoctor.org).Thismakes
addedsugarsemptycaloriesthatarenotprovidinganythingforconsumersexceptahigher
dosageofsugar,andahigherriskofdevelopingseveralhealthissues.Overthecourseofthe
15yearstudy,participantswhotookin25%ormoreoftheirdailycaloriesassugarweremore
thantwiceaslikelytodiefromheartdiseaseasthosewhosedietsincludedlessthan10%added
sugar(harvard.edu).Somethingthatcomeswithsuchdrastichealthrisksshouldbemadevisible


totheconsumers,especiallybecauseaccordingtotheHarvardHealthBlog,mostwomenand
menalreadygowellabovetherecommendedintakeofaddedsugars.Eatingtoomanyfoods
withaddedsugarandsolidfatssetsthestageforpotentialhealthproblems,suchaspoor
nutrition,weightgain,increasedtriglycerides,andtoothdecay(mayoclinic.org
).
The
averageAmericaniscompletelyunawareofthedangerousamountsofaddedsugarstheyare
consuming,andthenumeroushealthproblemstheyhaveanincreasedchanceofgetting.The
currentwaysugarislabeledwithholdstheamountofaddedsugarafoodcontains,crowds
healthierfoodsandnutrientsfromthediet,andincreasesthelikelihoodofseveralhealth
problems.
Productsthatshowthephrasessugarfreeorzerosugarhavethereputationofbeing
healthierchoicesbecausetheydonotcontainanysugar.Howeverfoodcompaniesareallowedto
usethesephrasesevenifthereissugarpresent."SugarFree":Lessthan0.5gsugarsperRACC
andperlabeledserving(fda.gov).Although0.5gramsofsugarisnotalargeamount,ifafood
containsseveralservingsitcaneasilyaccumulatetoasignificantnumber.However,becausethe
packagingislabeledwithsugarfree,shopperswillbelievetheyareingestingzerosugar.
They(studies)alsoshowalinkbetweenweightgainanddrinkingsweetenedbeverages.Cutting
backonaddedsugars,especiallyfromsweetenedbeveragessuchasregularsodaandfruitpunch,
canhelpyouandyourfamilymaintainahealthyweight(nih.gov).Consumingaddedsugars
leadstoweightgain,whichcanleadtoseveralhealthissuessuchasheartdisease,strokesand
cancer.Consuminghiddenaddedsugarsbecomesespeciallydangerouswithpeoplewhohave
insulindeficiencies,suchasdiabetes.Ifyouhave
diabetes
,yourbloodglucose,or
bloodsugar
,


levelsaretoohigh.Overtime,thiscancauseproblemswithotherbodyfunctions,suchasyour
kidneys
,
nerves
,
feet
,and
eyes
(nih.gov).Itiscrucialforpeoplewhosufferfromdiabetesto
closelymonitortheirsugarintakedaily,tomakesuretheydonotconsumemorethantheirbody
canhandle.Consumersthataresensitivetosugarlevelsareatriskofunknowinglyconsuming
sugarbecausethepackagingwaslabeledassugarfree.Halfagramofsugarmaynotseem
likealargenumber,butwhenconsumedinlargeamountsoverthecourseofaday,itcanquickly
accumulatetosignificantlydangerouslevels.Therefore,thephrasesugarfreeshouldonlybe
picturedonapackageifthefoodcontainszerogramsofsugar.
Somepeoplemaybelievethatcreatingthesechangestofoodlabelingwillonlybe
beneficialtothepeoplewhopayattentiontothefoodlabels.Whileitistruethatsomeshoppers
simplyignorethenutritionlabelsaltogether,themajorityofconsumerstaketheinformation
foundonfoodlabelsintoconsideration.Morethanhalf(54percent)ofconsumerssaidthey
readaproduct'slabelthefirsttimetheybuytheproduct.That'sa10percentincreasefrom2002
(fda.gov).Makingtheproposedchangestothewaysugarcontentisdisplayedonfoodlabelswill
bebeneficialtooverhalfthepopulation.Furthermore,astheyearsgoby,thereisacorrelated
increaseinthepercentageofshoppersthatreadnutritionlabels.Othersmaybeconcernedthat
thedailyreferenceintaketablewillnotgiveaccuratepercentagesforallpeople.Includinga
referenceintaketablethatwillbeaccurateforeverysinglehumanbeingisimpossible,butitcan
bedisplayedinawaythatwillrepresentthemajorityofthepopulation.They(theFDA)
proposed2,000caloriesas:consistentwithwidelyusedfoodplans,closetothecalorie
requirementsforpostmenopausalwomenandabettertoolfornutritioneducation


(theatlantic.com).Therecommendeddailyintakevalueofsugarwillbebasedonthe2,000
caloriedietproposedbytheFDA.Althoughcalorierequirementwillvarywithheight,weight
andage,theproposedcalorieconsumptionof2,000caloriesprovidesabenchmarkthatwill
includethemajorityofthehealthypopulation,andwillnottakeupalargeamountofspaceon
foodpackages.TheAmericanHeartAssociationrecommendsthatnomorethanhalfofyour
dailydiscretionarycalorieallowancecomefromaddedsugars.FormostAmericanwomen,this
isnomorethan100caloriesperday.Formen,itsnomorethan150caloriesperday
(heart.org).Inordertorepresentthepopulationasaccuratelyaspossible,thedailyintakevalue
ofsugarwillshowtherecommendedvalueforbothmenandwomen.Displayingdailyintake
valuetablesthatapplytobothgenders,andthatarebasedonabenchmarkcalorieintakediet,
willhelpaccountforthemajorityofthehealthypopulation,andwillhelpshoppersunderstand
howtheamountofsugartheyareconsumingrelatestotherecommendedamount.
Thecurrentwaysugarisdisplayedonfooditemskeepsconsumersunawareofthe
damagingeffectsugarhasontheirbodies.Addedsugarsthatcanleadtoheartdisease,poor
nutrition,weightgain,andtoothdecayarenotdisplayedonfoodpackaging,keepingconsumers
unawareoftheemptycaloriestheyareengorgingon.Sugarfreefoodismisleadingshoppers
intobelievingthattheyaresnackingonfoodsordrinkswithzerosugar,andisputtingpeople
sensitivetosugarlevelsatextremerisk.Finally,withsugarbeingdisplayedingramsitis
difficultforshopperstounderstandhowmuchsugartheyareactuallyconsuming,andhowthat
amountrelatestotherecommendedamount.Adailyintakereferencetableneedstobeincluded
togiveshoppersareference,addedsugarsneedtobemadevisibletoindividualsbecauseoftheir


numeroushealthrisks,andthetermsugarfreewillonlybedisplayedonfoodsthat
containzerogramsofsugar.Thesechangeswillprovidethepopulationwithabetter
understandingofwhattheyareputtingintotheirbodies,andwillbethefirststepofmanyto
reducingtheconcerninglyhighpercentagesofobesityinourcountry.

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