WASHINGTON—The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to crack down on deceptive claims on nutrition labels and even went so far as to unveil makeovers of the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient lists.
CSPI's Nutrition Facts label puts a greater emphasis on calories and indicates when a food is high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium or added sugars. Only fiber from whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables, and not faux fibers such as polydextrose and maltodextrin, would be considered to be fiber on the nutrition label.
CSPI also wants to see ingredient lists presented as clearly as the Nutrition Facts panel is, as opposed to the condensed, all-caps type often used. The new Ingredient Facts panel also would separate the major ingredients from minor ones. For foods with several forms of sugar scattered around the ingredients list, those sugars would be combined so that they would show up higher on the list of ingredients. Percentages of key ingredients would be disclosed.