WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration is considering
adding symbols to nutrition labels to help make shopping for
healthier choices a simpler task, officials revealed on Monday.
Similar to a traffic light system, future nutrition labels may
rank foods by a red, yellow or green mark to allow shoppers to
decipher between food that is low or high in fat, sugar or salt.
The system is already used in Great Britain, but officials have
pointed out that any steps towards updating nutrition labels are
for now, just an idea. Some food manufacturers, like PepsiCo,
have used their "Smart Spot" symbols on everything from diet
sodas to potato chips to show consumers they are enjoying the
foods they love without sacrificing their health in the process.
Ann Marie Krautheim, a nutrition expert National Dairy Council,
said setting up a consistent system would be helpful, if it was
tested on consumers to assure its effectiveness. Krautheim also
said, however, the Council’s own research proved that consumers
were more like