Facts up Front labels now on 90% of foods in some categories, says GMA as it launches new educational website

By Elaine WATSON

- Last updated on GMT

GMA: 'All of the research we’ve seen indicates that consumers don’t want to be told what to do. They want a facts-based front-of-pack labeling scheme, not an interpretive one'
GMA: 'All of the research we’ve seen indicates that consumers don’t want to be told what to do. They want a facts-based front-of-pack labeling scheme, not an interpretive one'

Related tags Nutrition facts panel Food marketing institute Nutrition

‘Facts Up Front’ icons now appear on 9 out of 10 products in some categories, with penetration highest in cereals, beverages and dry goods, said the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) as it unveiled a new website promoting the scheme.

The icons - which highlight calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar per serving plus two (optional) ‘nutrients to encourage’ - will be rolled out across all GMA and Food Marketing Institute (FMI) member products by the end of this year - representing 80% of packaged foods in retail.

They do not - unlike some competing front-of-pack labels - attempt to guide shoppers towards ‘healthier’ products or rank foods as good, bad or ugly, but instead highlight key data from the Nutrition Facts panel to help consumers make informed choices, EVP Sean McBride told FoodNavigator-USA.  

“All of the research we’ve seen indicates that consumers don’t want to be told what to do. They want a facts-based scheme, not an interpretive one, because everyone has different priorities. Some people are watching their sodium intakes, other people are looking at fiber, or calories, for example.”

Are the labels ‘working’? And how should we define and measure success?

With this in mind, the success of Facts Up Front will not be measured by the extent to which it alters purchasing patterns or encourages manufacturers to reformulate products, but in terms of consumer understanding, he said.

“Facts Up Front is a tool to help consumers make informed choices, so we will measure its success in terms of whether consumers are aware of it, whether they understand it, whether they use it, and how engaged they are with it. And we’ve discussed these metrics with the FDA to ensure their authority and accuracy.”

Consumers will be surveyed at regular intervals to assess how much progress has been made against these objectives, he said.

As for the scheme’s impact on manufacturers, he added: “Our members have been reformulating their products to reduce saturated fat, sugar and sodium for years. I don’t think Facts up Front is linked to that. It’s a tool for consumers.”

Asked whether Facts Up Front icons had changed shopping patterns, for example by boosting sales of products lower in sodium, sugar or fat than rivals in a given category, the GMA is not collecting this kind of data, he said.

However, it expects to get anecdotal feedback as the roll-out continues.

Women aged 25-49 with school aged children key target group

Facts-Up-front

The key aim of the new FactsUpFront.org website is to help raise awareness - particularly among women aged 25-49 with school-aged children - about their daily nutritional needs and how they can use the icons to help meet them.

A nutritional calculator - the most popular part of the site - also allows users generate personalized nutritional goals by entering their age, gender, height, weight and activity levels, reflecting the fact that not everyone’s energy requirements in particular are the same, said McBride.

Another part of the site proving popular is a section showing people how they might boost intakes of ‘nutrients to encourage’ such as potassium, vitamin A and iron, he said.

We are providing consumers with the knowledge and tools they need to build a healthful diet

The next phase of the consumer education program will be an advertising campaign launching in late 2013 or early 2014 coupled with instore marketing and web-based initiatives.

Controversy

Facts-Up-front-nutrition-calculator
The nutritional calculator section of the new FactsUpFront website is proving very popular, says the GMA

While Facts Up Front has been welcomed by many stakeholders, it has not been met with universal approval, however, with some stakeholders arguing that consumers need a more ‘interpretive’ scheme that alerts busy shoppers to healthier products via stars, icons or colors.

And while the resources section of FactsUpFront.org cites a 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report praising some aspects of the industry-backed scheme, it neglects to mention that the IOM’s final​ report (published in 2011) recommended a different approach.

The IOM concluded: “Itis time for a move away from front-of-package systems that mostly provide nutrition information on foods or beverages but don’t give clear guidance about their healthfulness, and toward one that encourages healthier choices through simplicity, visual clarity, and the ability to convey meaning without written information.”

The IOM’s favored scheme instead ascribes a rating of zero, one, two or three points (or ticks) to any given product depending on whether certain thresholds are met for saturated and trans-fatty acids, sodium and added sugars.

But are the alternatives any better?

As the IOM itself recognizes, however, no FOP scheme is perfect, with simpler schemes often oversimplifying the science, and more complex schemes baffling consumers.  

For example, while color-based approaches might appear more consumer-friendly, they have also been criticized for failing to take portion sizes into account or basing their criteria purely on negatives (fat, salt, sugar) rather than positives (fiber, vitamins).

(So diet cola gets a green light because it has no salt, fat or sugar, while cheese gets a red light owing to its fat and sodium content, despite the fact that it also contains beneficial nutrients.)

With no clear consensus on this issue on either side of the Atlantic, scores of different labels are now appearing on foods, from red lights and green dots, to ticks, stars, nutrient density scores, healthy eating logos, Facts Up Front labels and (in Europe) GDA (guideline daily amount) labels.

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1 comment

Standardized Column

Posted by PieHoleBlogger,

Many countries include a standardized column on the nutrition information panel. In Australia, for instance, every food product label has a per 100g column.

What's the benefit?
Well, it means you can compare nutrients like total energy, salt, fat, sat fat, calcium, etc between products.

In the US, there is only a 'per serve' column. This column is almost never comparable to similar products. A serve of potato chips in one brand may be 8 chips (15g) and another brand is 12 chips (23g). It is impossible to compare nutrients like this without a calculator. Even as I dietitian, I wouldn't stand there and calculate it.

Standardized columns make it easier for consumers to compare 'like' foods. They also prevent manufacturers hiding behind ridiculous 'per serve' sizes. For instance, spray oil has 0 calories? I don't think so... who even can quantify a 1/4 second spray? We all know oil has calories, why should spray oil manufacturers be able to blatantly lie to customers by saying their product has 0 calories?

Standard columns also make it easier to educate people how to read labels and compare. For instance, a guideline for selecting yoghurt: per 100g is the sugar <10g? Or if it's a fruit yoghurt, is the sugar <20g? This makes comparisons and selections easier and more informed.

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