Nutrition Labels and Foods Consumers Purchase for Their Consumption - Essay Example

To help consumers further, recently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration together brought two new tools which are "Make Your Calories Count," an interactive online learning program, and a new Nutrition Facts Label brochure. These tools will give power to consumers to have better knowledge about the food they consume and the right choices of food products. They are also decided to help in partnership with the food industry to advise and provide vital information so that the problems of obesity can be reduced to a great extent due to the misuse of food consumption by people.

It is very important to count the calories of foods that a person takes because the calorie intake should be equal to calorie expenditure to maintain his weight. Calories expenditure depends on the physical activity of a person. If the calorie intake is more than the calories expended, the excess calories will be converted into fat and stored in one's body which causes body weight to increase and gradually one may become obese which contributes to various serious degenerative disorders like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. The tool “make your calories count,” provides three pieces of information to help plan a healthy diet while managing the calorie intake, Size up Your Servings and Calories; See What's In It For You; and Judge If It's Right For You. As per the general guide introduced to calories, a single food item having 40 calories is considered low-calorie, one with 100 calories as moderate-calorie, and the food with 400 calories as high-calorie. It is a simple program that people can understand and follow and choose their food products depending on their calorie requirements for healthy living.

Yet another piece of information introduced on the Nutrition Fact Label is the percent Daily Value (%DV) which is a quick guide to consumers. Any nutrient at 5%DV or less is considered as low for that specific nutrient and 20% or more is considered as high for that particular nutrient. The % Daily Values recommendations are based on nutrients for a 2,000-calorie daily diet or 2,500 calories. The %DV helps to decide if a serving of food is high or low in a nutrient. For example consuming too much fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase the risk of chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure. On the other hand, most people don't get enough dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron in their diets. In both these cases Percent of Daily Values helps to adjust the nutrients required to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition Fact Label facilitates the consumer to evaluate and compare the serving size, calories, and nutrients of similar products to decide which product is the better option for them.

One has to agree that Nutrition Fact Labeling is an effective means of helping consumers to make more healthful food options. Since people are not knowledgeable of the benefits and demerits of the food they consume it is necessary to create an awareness among them of the serious problems of undernutrition and over nourishment. The Nutrition Fact label makes it easy to decide the amounts of nutrients one is getting and to compare one product to another. This helps to attempt a diet that gives emphasis to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. Choose foods that are low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugar. It is necessary to include regular physical activity for overall health and fitness which helps to control body weight by balancing the calories one consumes from food with the calories expended each day. Hence one has to fully agree with the article published in the Reuters Health information column by Megan Rauscher on Thursday, November 16, 2006.