By Annie Gasparro and Mike Esterl
U.S. regulators are changing food labels to show more
prominently the levels of sugar -- the first such adjustment in
more than two decades -- dealing a blow to food and beverage makers
and aiming to change how Americans eat and drink.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday that a new
nutrition-facts panel appearing on the back of packaged food and
beverages will list how many grams of sugar have been added by
manufacturers and what percentage of the recommended daily maximum
that represents.
The FDA's decision to break out added sugar from the total sugar
count already on packaging culminates a yearslong push by the Obama
administration into stiff opposition from food and beverage
companies, which say there is no difference between naturally
present sugars and added sugars.
Health officials say added sugars -- such as corn sweetener --
have no nutritional value and increase overall caloric intake,
helping fuel obesity and diabetes while steering Americans away
from nutrient-rich foods. Until now, nutrition panels have flagged
recommended maximums for fats, sodium, cholesterol and
carbohydrates but not for sugar.
First lady Michelle Obama was expected to announce the changes
at an annual nutrition summit in Washington.
The new rules could cause label shock for many consumers, and it
is expected to deal a big blow to food and beverage makers,
especially those in the soft-drink industry. A 20-ounce bottle of
Coke, for instance, contains about 130% of the daily recommended
maximum for added sugar.
Government health officials recommend eating no more than 50
grams of added sugars -- or 12.5 teaspoons of granulated sugar -- a
day, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. However, the FDA estimates
Americans on average eat the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of
granulated sugar through added sugars like honey, high fructose
corn syrup and other sweeteners.
One serving of low-fat vanilla yogurt can have three to four
teaspoons of added sugar per serving, in addition to the natural
sugar from the milk. Flavored oatmeal also can have as many as
three teaspoons of added sugar. Even savory foods have added sugar,
like pasta sauce, which often has 10% of the recommended daily
intake per serving.
The new label regulations don't apply to certain meat, poultry
and processed egg products, which are regulated by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, not the FDA.
According to the government, the biggest sources of added sugars
are the obvious ones: in descending order, soda, energy and sports
drinks, grain-based desserts, sugar-sweetened fruit drinks,
dairy-based desserts and candy.
The spotlight on sugar could damage sales, pushing dozens of
major companies -- including General Mills Inc., PepsiCo Inc.,
Campbell Soup Co. and Coca-Cola Co. -- to further reformulate
products. Many already are wrestling with falling demand for
processed foods and sugary drinks as consumers shop for fresher,
healthier alternatives.
Soda producers also are being targeted by local politicians.
Philadelphia's mayor has proposed a tax of 3 cents per ounce on
sugar-added drinks, potentially increasing prices by more than
half, and lawmakers in Illinois have resurrected the idea of a soda
tax in their budget talks. In July, San Francisco will begin
requiring advertisements for sugary drinks to be accompanied by
warnings that they contribute to obesity, diabetes and tooth
decay.
Despite increasingly branching out into bottled waters and other
zero-calorie offerings, Coca-Cola still derives about 70% of its
sales from carbonated soft drinks like Coke, Sprite and Fanta.
The FDA proposed initial changes to the nutrition label in early
2014, sparking thousands of letters from interested parties,
including food and beverage companies. It first proposed including
the recommended maximum daily percentage for added sugars last
summer.
Until now, nutritional labels have remained essentially
unchanged since 1994, except for the addition of heart-risky trans
fats in 2006.
Manufacturers have two years to comply with the new regulation,
though they could still challenge the changes in court. Those with
less than $10 million in annual food sales will have three
years.
The new panels also will require some companies to change the
serving sizes they list on the back of the package. Ice cream,
which can now list half a cup as one serving, will list two-thirds
of a cup as a serving, increasing the calorie count that appears on
the label by a third.
Among other changes, manufacturers will be required to declare
the amounts of potassium and vitamin D because the FDA says
Americans aren't getting enough, putting them at higher risk for
chronic disease. But they will no longer be required to list
vitamin A and vitamin C because most people are getting their
fill.
The updated label design also makes calories and serving sizes
more prominent.
But it is the inclusion of added sugars that has sparked the
most debate and represents the most dramatic shift from the 1990s,
when many health experts were more focused on getting Americans to
cut back on fat.
It also comes as Americans are reading labels more carefully
than ever before. Some 77% of U.S. adults read them when buying
food. Fewer than half read them in 2002, even when they purchased a
product for the first time, according to the government.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group
representing major food and beverage companies, argues that
distinguishing between added and natural sugar on labels is
unnecessary because they have the same impact on weight gain. It
says scientific tests also can't tell the difference, making it
difficult to measure how much added sugar is in a food or
drink.
Many Americans already have scaled back on sugar in recent
years, prompting changes at food and beverage makers.
General Mills reduced sugar in its regular Yoplait yogurt by 25%
last year. Danone SA's Dannon has cut sugar in its various yogurt
brands, and says three-quarters of its sales now come from products
with 23 grams or less of sugar. Both companies said the shift was
costly, taking years of research and development, testing in focus
groups and securing different ingredients.
Mizkan America Inc.'s Ragu came out with a pasta sauce that
boasts no added sugar. J.M. Smucker Co. has a line of all-natural
peanut butter with no added sugar. And Mott's LLP sells an
all-natural applesauce with half the sugar of its original
applesauce.
But there are limits. Coke and Pepsi expected consumers to shift
from full-calorie sodas to their zero-calorie offerings. Sales of
diet sodas instead have fallen more quickly than regular soda in
recent years as Americans balked at artificial sweeteners over
health concerns. Both companies recently launched mid-calorie colas
sweetened with stevia, which is derived from a plant, but consumers
have largely stayed away.
Interpreting the new rules governing added sugars also could
prove thorny as companies challenge what constitutes an added
sugar.
Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. markets one of its cranberry juice
blends as having "no added sugar" on packaging. Cranberries aren't
naturally sweet, but the blend lists ingredients that are sweet,
including grape, apple and pear juices from concentrate.
Ocean Spray said the non-cranberry juices create a unique
flavor. Based on an initial review of the new rules, the company
said it believes it can continue to make the "no added sugar" claim
because the juices are fully reconstituted before being added.
The FDA on Friday provided a long list of examples of added
sugars, including corn sweetener, malt sugar and molasses. It said
frozen fruit juice concentrates from 100% juice won't be treated as
an added sugar, but that fruit juice concentrates not reconstituted
to full strength will be treated as such.
Write to Annie Gasparro at annie.gasparro@wsj.com and Mike
Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2016 13:58 ET (17:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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