We took a little trip to celebrate our May 20^th wedding anniversary this past weekend. When we’re on a trip, I’m not very diligent in reading or watching the news – this very nice trip was especially devoid of the news. But when we returned, there was a long-awaited report of the new Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) that is the first major overhaul of the nutrition label (NFP) since 1993. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on our anniversary that changes will be made during the next two to three years. I recognize that patience is not my strongest asset. Do any of you feel impatient when badly needed changes are long delayed? These new label changes were officially (finally, after long preliminaries) proposed in the Federal Register on March 3, 2014. But it was also announced that it will take another 2 or 3 years after the May 20, 2016 final agreement to implement. Not counting before the official proposition – that’s about 5 years total. Ouch! Maybe if I want to be a little more positive, I’d focus on the fact this last label lasted a quarter of a century.

I am actually glad that we are finally getting a new NFP. The new label is designed to help people, generally while holding a food product in their hands trying to decide, to make a more informed decision and benefit from better nutrition. It really is making a big step forward in reflecting serving size, nutrients and ingredients that people need to focus on.

One of the new improvements is the new bolder, more prominently displayed calorie counts and serving sizes. This is designed to help the public get a grip on the public health problems of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The hope is that the refreshed design and more relevant information will be understandable and useful to more consumers than the old ones have.

Portion creep is a serious problem in our country. For example, this weekend I was looking at a sign in Café Rio listing Fresh Lime Pie. Boy, did that sound good! But the new calorie signs about knocked my socks off. They listed the calories as 870. Oh my goodness! That was definitely over the top for my needs. So I didn’t get it. I did ask myself, “What on earth are they doing to their fresh lime pie to drive the calories so high?” Nothing is the answer. It is just the way they’re cutting it. Today I looked up on Café Rio’s website and discovered that their slice of pie is meant to be two servings. If I had received a regular slice of pie at 435 calories I would have consumed about 200 calories and shared a little more than half with my husband; and that would have been perfect. But the fast food and regular restaurants have let portion creep mess with our national obesity problem. So I’m glad I didn’t get it; but at the time it really seemed like a perfect anniversary weekend dessert. Processed food companies and fast food restaurants have learned well from the food labels to divide food up into servings to make it look like fewer calories. Unfortunately, Café Rio caused an undesirable effect for both customers and proprietor. Listing the 870 calories for the doubles-sized piece caused a loss of sale. I would like the single portion to be available.

The new label is striving to make the serving size closer to an actual serving size typically consumed in one sitting. This ‘portion creep problem’ is significant because of the consequences of our western diet: endemic overweight, obesity, diabetes and heart disease problems. If you’re very young you may not have observed the amount that was commonly served many decades ago. One good illustration is the old fashioned bottles of soda. Soda was traditionally served in a 6 – 6.5 ounce bottle until the late 80s. It also was NOT consumed frequently, but that’s a different problem. Eventually, the container of soda became 8 ounces, 12 ounces and then 20 ounces, and so on. The new label (NFP) lists the amount that will probably be consumed as one serving. A 12-ounce can will be listed as one serving.

The new label is dropping vitamins A and C because Americans do not have difficulty getting the recommended amounts of these vitamins. Vitamin D and potassium, on the other hand will now be listed because we are having more problems getting enough of those.

Another great addition is the listing for added sugar. The goal is to help the public see the difference between naturally occurring sugars and added sugar. I really like that!

Like the old labels there are some foods that will not be included. Certain meat, poultry and processed egg products, will continue to be regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The FDA had a nice side-by-side comparison of the old and new NFP and other great information to help explain the new label, but the link seems a little shaky; so I’ll put up a screen shot so you can see what a wonderful improvement it will be. It really is a nice illustration of how much progress will be made over the next couple of years.

I’m as patiently as possible waiting for all the new NFP benefits designed to support our goals to improve nutrition and reduce obesity and thus disease, through better eating habits.