A Tale of Two Labels

The U.S.Department of Agriculture will introduce new regulations next year that will alter how GeneticallyModified Organisms (GMOs) are labelled. It’s been almost a year since the ObamaAdministration signed a bill that would require food and beverage companies tolabel if their products contain GMOs.

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This bill,much like many other consequential matters in the US, has received littleattention, thanks in no small part to the hoopla surrounding the TrumpAdministration. But this bill is a major departure from regulations of thepast: it requires companies to place an on-package label, a symbol approved by the USDA, or a QR code that could easily navigate consumers to a webpage completewith full GMO details. Moreover, the bill nullifies all existing state laws asthey pertain to food labelling, meaning that the Obama-sponsored bill presumably will bethe law of the land come summer 2018.

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For its part,Canada—while getting a good chuckle at its Southern neighbour’s ongoing predicaments—hasfaced its own regulatory hurdles, but the result was much different. Lastmonth, a private members bill seeking similar GMO labelling on allproducts was resoundingly rejected by the house.

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One of themajor reasons for Bill C-291’s defeat was that it did not properly define theterm “genetically modified”. While supporters of the bill suggested that thebroad language provided latitude, detractors noted that the inexact definitionleft too much to whims of regulators.

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Naturally,this GMO labelling matter brings up a whole slew of questions about thedifferences in labelling laws between the two neighbours. And so…

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‍The Not-so Wild West of Labelling

The laissez-fairereputation of the US doesn’t necessarily fit with its approach to foodlabelling. Even prior to the introduction of national genetically modifiedlaws, many major food producers opted for more detailed labelling. The reason?In July 2016, new labelling laws in Vermont came into effect, requiringproducers to label ingredients that are genetically modified.

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Instead ofmaking different labelling for just one state, the likes of General Mills Inc.,Campbell Soup Co. and even Kellog Canada decided to produce one standard label containing all the necessaryinformation.

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But this isn’tjust about labelling for GMOs, even though upwards of 75 per cent of all foodin the US contains genetically modified elements.

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In May 2016,Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced major changes to packaged food labelling. In orderto help consumers makes more informed choices, new labels would include:

‍·     Increasingthe type size for “Calories”, “servings per container”, and “serving size”, aswell as bolding the actual number of calories and serving size

·     Actualand percent daily value of Vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium

·     Footnotethat better explains meaning of percent Daily Value: “The % Daily Value tellsyou how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000calories a day is used for general nutrition advice”

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Nutritionscience has changed a great deal, so the FDA is making labelling consistentwith the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines. New “Added Sugars” measurements in theform of grams and percent Daily Value will be required, since it is difficultto remain at your calorie limit if more than 10% of your calorie limit comesfrom added sugars.

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In addition tocalcium and iron, two new nutrients have been added to the required list: VitaminD and potassium. Vitamins A and C will not be required, but can be includedvoluntarily.

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The measure“calories from fat” is being removed, as the type of fat is considered more important than simply the amount. The measurements for “total fat”, “saturatedfat”, and “trans fat” will continue to be required on labelling.

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The shift toDaily Values continues with sodium, dietary fiber and vitamin D. This measurewill make it easier for buyers to understand how much they should be consumingon any given day.

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One of the major changes deals with servingsizes, which haven’t been updated since 1993. Serving sizes are based on theamount people are actually eating, asopposed to what they should beeating. Serving sizes will increase based on how much people are eating today.This is consistent with the size of packaging as well. Because most peopleconsume a serving in a particular sitting, calories and nutrients will have tobe labelled on that basis. The introduction of dual column serving sizes willmake explicit the difference between “per serving” and “per package/unit”.

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The grass is about as green

While Canadaresoundingly rejected GMO labelling regulations, it has followed America’s leadon nutrition labelling. Final amendments were put forth in December 16, 2016, and willrequire companies to transition to the new regulations over a five-year period.

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Much like theUnited States, serving sizes and calories are made more obvious to aid theconsumer in making healthy choices. Percentage daily value of total sugars willalso have to be included, and so will potassium. Nutrients like potassium,calcium, and iron will need to be disclosed in milligrams, while vitamins A andC will be removed. An explanatory footnote will indicate whether a set amountof sugar or sodium “is a little” or “is a lot” in order to better guideconsumer buying habits.

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Outside ofimportant formatting changes that will make it easier for consumers to discernseparate classes of ingredients, grouping of the same types of ingredients willbe required. For example: Sugars (fancy molasses, brown sugar, sugar).Previously, ingredients could be listed sporadically, which could make itdifficult to view and understand ingredient labels. 

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Serving sizeswill also change to reflect the amount consumed in a single sitting.Consistency was the major reason for this change, as it would allow consumersto compare similar types of food. Single serving packages will reflect theamount in the container, while multi-serve will be based on the type of foode.g. foods that are measurable (cup, teaspoon, tablespoon), foods in pieces(number of pieces, fraction of total amount), and amount ordinarily consumed(slices). For the latter two, gram amounts will also have to be included.

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New health claims can be made on packaging forfruits and vegetables. Consumers can expect claims to read: “A healthy dietrich in a variety of vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of heartdisease”.

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Making Healthy Diets a Priority

America andCanada are beginning to take the health of their population seriously. Whilethe two countries differ on their health care framework (with the United Statescurrently revising their Affordable Care Act), costs will certainly diminish inboth cases should the health of their population improve.

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Skyrocketingrates of diabetes, the prevalence of obesity, and the threat of heart diseasecontinue to plague both countries. Labelling is a step — albeit a small one —in the right direction. However, offering nutritional choices that areconvenient and affordable will help make America and Canada healthier nations.