Front & Center: Nutrition Labeling Research To Help Consumers Make Healthier Choices

(Washington, D.C.) — The use of Front-of-Package (FOP) nutrition labeling schemes has increased dramatically worldwide in recent decades. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated qualitative and quantitative consumer research to explore the development of a standardized FOP nutrition labeling scheme. In November, the FDA submitted its proposed rule on FOP nutrition labeling to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).   With a much-anticipated proposed rule on FOP nutrition labeling expected from FDA soon, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) is hosting a webinar on December 12 at 2pm ET. This free, 60-minute webinar, Front-Of-Package Nutrition Labeling: Front & Center Food Information To Encourage Healthy Choices, will feature food labeling insights from IFIC Senior Director of Research & Consumer Insights, Kris Sollid, RDN, as well as IFIC President and CEO, Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN. The two will discuss the FDA’s efforts to develop standardized nutrition labeling for the front of food packaging, IFIC consumer research on the FOP labels being considered by FDA, and the importance of improving nutrition communications to encourage healthy food choices.   “Americans are food curious, and time-crunched, making it difficult to quickly convey accurate and complex information about food. As the American food consumer evolves, so must on-and off-label nutrition communications. FDA and IFIC efforts, among others, are critical to improve consumer use and understanding of Front-of-Pack nutrition labeling concepts,” said Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, IFIC President & CEO.      Given the multiple FOP initiatives underway at the FDA and health agencies throughout the world, over the past few years, IFIC has conducted two studies among American consumers. The first was released in November 2021, the second in June of this year, with Front-Of-Package (FOP) Nutrition Labeling: Front & Center Food Information To Encourage Healthy Choices.    “In IFIC’s most recent […]

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Why do we eat the way that we do?

Why do we eat the way that we do? When thinking about how to manage your weight, do you ever wonder why some advice is easy to follow, yet other times you struggle to make lasting changes? You swear off snacks for a week but then see someone snacking and you make up for lost time. Perhaps the answer is about who you are which is key to successfully adapting a new eating pattern to your current lifestyle. Published research by Reicks et al.* suggests that how, why, and how often people consume food and beverages may be reflective of our age, lifestyle, gender, or family structure. Considering these influences that determine what and how we eat can help us make changes to our diet that will last. The main goal of the IFIC Foundation research published in the Journal of American College of Nutrition, was to describe how often we eat, what we want to accomplish when we eat and drink, and how it relates to age, gender, presence of children in the home, and body mass index. The research design was an online survey of approximately 2700 American adults, age 18-80 years old. The survey was demographically balanced and conducted by a market research panel. Survey questions related to the 6689 eating and drinking occasions that subjects reported having during the prior day. Some surprising results differed from widely held assumptions about how often and why people consume food and beverages. They suggested that people’s eating habits can differ according to their lifestyle characteristics.  Age appears to be the factor that significantly determines what and why one eats and drinks. Older adults (45-69 years) tend to plan their eating and drinking as part of a meal more than younger respondents. Older adults also appear to depend on routine […]

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The Food/Face Connection: Do Some Foods Give You Acne?

It’s no surprise that diet and nutrition impact overall health. But what about something a little more specific, like acne? Acne is one of the most common dermatological conditions that can creep up in puberty and last well into your 50s. I’m not going to lie: Looking at that age range is pretty disheartening. Just when I thought I was over the “tween/teen” problem, I could be facing a few more decades of this?! It got me thinking about ways to help prevent pimples from popping up and wondering if there really is a connection between the food we eat and our faces. First things first, what is acne? Basically, it’s a skin condition that comes up when your hair follicles get clogged with dead skin cells and oil, resulting in an inflamed, raised bump or plugged pore. Acne is primarily genetic, meaning that if one of your parents had acne, there’s about an 80% chance you will have it too. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad. But what about the remaining 20% chance? Naturally, my first thought turned to food. Since we always hear “you are what you eat,” many writers have explored the connection between diet and acne. Flip through beauty magazines or Google “diet and acne,” and you will be bombarded with articles. Some stress the importance of avoiding X food for clear skin, or blame X food for causing breakouts. Chocolate, dairy, and carbohydrates seem to be the biggest targets for allegedly exacerbating acne. But are these claims based in science? Let’s turn to the literature for some good ol’ guidance. Turns out, several reviews including a systematic review asked some of these questions. The authors wanted to assess the evidence of the effects of diet on acne management. Reviewing data from seven studies with more than 4,000 participants, the article […]

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Hot Off the Presses: 5 Key Takeaways for Evaluating Nutrition in the Media

Every day, we are bombarded with the results of new nutrition studies proclaiming the latest on everything from red wine to coconut oil. We read about the “battle” between low-fat versus low-carb diets and question whether juice cleanses really are “fat-busting”. Sure, the headlines grab our attention, but how do we know if there’s strength beyond the media hype? Last week, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sponsored “Hot Off the Presses: Evaluating the Evidence Behind Today’s Nutrition Media Headlines”, a webinar mediated by IFIC’s Director of Nutrients Communications, Kris Sollid. The webinar featured speaker Andrew Brown, PhD, of the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Office of Energetics & Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC). Dr. Brown offered a wealth of information on how to evaluate and communicate nutrition research. Here are 5 key takeaways:   1. Start with the basics. Dr. Brown began with a description of four fundamentals of science: Keeping these questions in mind while reading the newest nutrition study in the media can help us cast an objective, logical eye on the results.   2. Media headlines often don’t match the facts. Many of us read the recent splashy article titled, “Lose Weight without Giving Up a Single Calorie?” and thought it was a) the best news ever; or b) too good to be true. This recent example is an excellent representation of many of the headline portrayals of nutrition research that often don’t align with the study itself. Dr. Brown highlighted a few additional examples of popular topics in nutrition, including the “obesity-fighting” effects of red wine (which was demonstrated in rats – not humans) and an opposing viewpoint – “Drinking Alcohol Sparks Eating, Leads to Weight Gain” – in which the method of administration of alcohol was very different than the typical act of drinking a beverage. These examples […]

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Eating More Fruits in All Forms

Coming in all colors, flavors, shapes, and textures, fruits are the most eye-catching and satisfyingly sweet food group. While fruits are available in many forms (e.g., canned, dried, fresh, frozen, and 100% juice), most people have a preferred form, which is likely influenced by many factors—including how healthy they perceive that form to be. Our annual IFIC Food and Health Survey has over the years explored Americans’ views on the healthiest food forms, and fresh consistently comes out on top (followed by frozen and canned). But is fresh fruit really always best—or your only option? Read on to find out. What counts as a fruit? While there may be barriers—like lack of convenience, cost, and busy schedules—to eating enough fruit each day, for many people, eating a fruit-filled diet might be easier than we think. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), the fruit food group consists of whole fruits and 100% fruit juice. But whole fruits don’t have to be found fresh in the produce section—they can also be canned, dried, or frozen varieties that we can eat cut, cubed, diced, sliced, or whole. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate also counts cooked, mashed, and pureed fruits as whole fruits. More specifically, the DGAs recommend that whole fruit should make up at least half of the amount of fruit that we eat each day, and that it’s best to eat fruits that feature a wide variety of colors. Some widely available fruits, like apples and bananas, can be found fresh year-round, while others, like peaches, are considered more seasonal. For seasonal fruits, buying frozen or canned varieties are great options when the fruit in question is out of season. What are the benefits of eating fruit? No matter its form, fruit is a critical part of any healthy […]

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Food Colors: Resources You Can Use

Why do we choose the foods we eat? What makes this food more appealing than that food? What are the things you like about your favorite food? Take a look and you’ll see that the color makes a difference in what you choose to eat. Food colors provide a familiar look to foods and often function in food in other ways too. They enhance colors that occur naturally in food. They offset any discolor when food is exposed to light, temperature and storage conditions. Food colors are unique; they are classified as ‘color additives’ and are certified by FDA which confirms their safe use. They are listed on the food label and these resources are a guide for you to learn more about food colors, color additives and what they do to food. Food Ingredients and Colors Brochure For centuries, ingredients have served useful functions in a variety of foods. Our ancestors used salt to preserve meats and fish, added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of foods, preserved fruit with sugar, and pickled cucumbers in a vinegar solution. Today, consumers demand and enjoy a food supply that is flavorful, nutritious, safe, convenient, colorful and affordable. Food additives and advances in technology help make that possible. This brochure in partnership with the U.S. FDA is your guide to understand the role of ingredients, colors and flavors in food. Color Me Red: New Studies on Food Coloring Safety Did you know food coloring can be made using natural and artificial ingredients? Both of which are safe and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These colorings are used in a variety of foods, not just baked goods, but they are also safely used in ice cream, yogurt, soft drinks, cereals, sausage casings, cheeses and the list goes on. […]

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The Science of Taste

Confucius said, “Everyone eats and drinks, but few appreciate taste.” When you understand a bit about the science of taste, you may join the few who appreciate it. In fact, the science of taste is amazing. The human sensory systems allow us to distinguish about 100,000 different flavors.  Flavors emanate from our bodies’ ability to discern one taste from another.  And, according to the 2017 Food & Health Survey, taste reigns with 84 percent of Americans confirming it as “a top driver of [food] purchases.”  What’s the difference between taste and flavor? If you hold your nose, close your eyes and eat chocolate, you may not know what you are eating. Without your sense of smell, chocolate just tastes sweet or bitter. If you have ever tried to enjoy a meal with a head cold, you know how much your sense of smell adds to flavor. Flavor is more than just odor and taste. It also includes texture and temperature. It even includes the sense of pain, which is what you get from capsaicin in chili peppers. Put it all together and you have the ability to discern 100,000 different flavors. How did our sense of taste evolve? Over millions of years, our sense of taste evolved to help us choose which foods to eat. Choosing the wrong food could mean wasted energy, poor nutrition or poisoning from eating something that can do harm to our bodies. According to Current Biology Perspective on Food and Human Taste, humans relied on fruit and other plant-based foods and eventually developed a strong sense for the natural bitter taste in plants and leaves. As time progressed, we retained these early taste preferences and acquired newer ones. We like the taste of sweet because it signifies a source of sugar, which means energy. We […]

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Glyphosate 101: Gaining Food Safety Insights

You may have recently read news about glyphosate, a widely utilized pesticide, and concerns about the safety of it being used and potential consumer exposure. With this increased focus on glyphosate, we thought it would be good to address some food safety considerations that may be on your mind. What is glyphosate? Glyphosate is a pesticide that has been used for crop protection since 1974. It is widely used in farming practices because it is considered non-toxic to consumers and animals, and is effective for broad-range weed control. However, those attributes come with an important caveat: Glyphosate, like all pesticides, must be used as prescribed on the pesticide product label. As one of the most widely used agricultural compounds, glyphosate has been the subject of numerous toxicological research experiments to establish the safety for both consumers that could encounter glyphosate and for field workers applying this pesticide to crops. For the past 40 years, the safety of glyphosate has been reviewed and confirmed by the scientific community and multiple government agencies. The findings from these reviews reveal that, when used properly, glyphosate does not cause adverse human health effects. Studies also indicate that at low levels (pesticide residues that can be found in foods, discussed below), glyphosate does not act as a carcinogen, endocrine disrupter or a developmental toxicant. Although there have been reports of farm worker safety being compromised due to specific exposure scenarios, the use of glyphosate by farm workers to tend to crops is regarded as safe when done with regulated protocols. In the case of farm or field workers who may be exposed to high levels of glyphosate during the mixing or application of the products, there are guidelines to help support safe handling and application. Who Monitors and Regulates Pesticides? The use of pesticides, including […]

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