November 2010 Archives

If the American Dietetic Association Foundation's (ADAF) recent survey on family eating habits, attitudes and physical activity has anything to say about it, we've done a good job teaching people what not to eat, but haven't done as well when it comes to what they should eat. Preliminary survey findings, which were released at ADA's recent Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in Boston, show that while families generally understand which foods to avoid, they aren't so sure which foods they should eat the most. Case in point: When asked from which food group a person should eat the fewest servings daily, 74.2% of Caucasian, 63.2% and 66.4% of Hispanic children correctly identified the group of fats, oils and sweets. Less than 25% of parents and children, however, correctly identified grains as the food group from which the most servings should come.

Another survey, done by Harris Interactive and reported by HealthyWomen (HW), found that while 87% of women believe that a parent's weight does in fact affect a child's risk of becoming obese, only about 25% think that connection actually applies to them.

Both the ADAF and HW reports point to what I call "gaps in the equation" - places where we're headed in the right direction but still falling a bit short of the mark. Research like this, which links progress to gaps, confirms the progress we've made while providing the evidence needed to ensure our efforts add up to success.

I have written in this space before about my strong belief in the role of the supermarket as a nutrition learning laboratory and in the role of the supermarket dietitian as a community nutrition educator. One of the most important nutrition education tools in the supermarket is the Nutrition Panel. Dietitians have used it since it first appeared on the back of food labels in 1994, and many consumers have relied on it to help them make food choices.

Over the past several years, as the obesity crisis has taken over the nation, various front-of-package (FOP) food rating systems have debuted here in the United States and in other countries as well - notably Britain and the European Union. Although meant to help consumers make healthy choices (usually by flagging high amounts of certain "unhealthy" nutrients such as sodium and fat), the plethora of FOP labeling systems, all based on different criteria, also confuse consumers.

I think everyone now agrees that FOP labeling is a good idea - a quick tool for busy consumers who don't have time to read the whole Nutrition Panel or find the few pieces of information they want from the abundance of data presented. But like all good ideas that well-meaning people and organizations rush to bring to life, eventually benefits are overshadowed by confusion - in other words, too many cooks in the pot.

All of this is to say that I am very pleased to know that food retailers and food manufacturers have seen the handwriting on the supermarket shelf - and have recognized there's too much of it!

Last week, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) announced plans to join forces in developing a simple, evidence-based, transparent, Dietary Guidelines-based FOP nutrition labeling system designed to help shoppers make food choices based on information such as calories, sodium and saturated fat per serving. (See full announcement here.)

Thanks to this unprecedented retailer-manufacturer partnership, early next year information on calories and key nutrients will appear in an easy-to-understand format on the front label of many of the country's most popular food and beverage products. GMA and FMI also will provide consumers with information on nutrients needed to build a "nutrient-dense" diet and on "shortfall nutrients" that are under-consumed in the diets of most Americans.