How Food Labels Can Impact Our Health

*This Guest Blog Post was written by Charlotte Griffith, a Medical University of South Carolina Dietetic Intern.

A new study suggests that the revamped food labels may drastically improve the prevalence of heart disease and type 2 diabetes in Americans.

Nutrition Facts Label

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data reported the average American consumes 94 grams of sugar per day.  This level of consumption far exceeds the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation of no more than 50 grams of sugar per day, which is equivalent to about 12 teaspoons.  The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting added sugar intake to no more than 6-8 teaspoons of added sugar per day, supported by scientific evidence linking excessive added sugar intake to obesity and heart disease. It is important to note that there is a difference between natural sugars and added sugars. The definition of added sugars is sugar added to a food or beverage during production. Added sugars have no nutritional value.

In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the most extensive revision of the Nutrition Facts food labels since 1993.  After many delays and push back from the food industry, certain manufacturers were mandated to implement the new and improved labeling policy by January 1, 2020 while others have until January 1 or July 1, 2021. One of the biggest changes to the food label is the addition of the added sugar line. For the first time, added sugars will be included on nutrition facts labels as an indention below total sugars. The reason for this was simple- Americans consume too much added sugar.

Added Sugar

Research Supporting the Added Sugars on Food Labels

A new study, published in Circulation by researchers from Tufts University, attempted to estimate the potential health impacts and cost-effectiveness of the added sugar labeling policy using a microsimulation model.  The simulation estimated the related health care costs and disease prevalence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus, quality-adjusted life-years, policy costs, health care, informal care costs, and lost productivity savings. The researchers compared these to the cost-effectiveness of two policy change scenarios. One scenario simply estimated these costs directly related to the implementation of the FDA added sugar labeling policy while a second scenario further accounted for the possibility of extensive product reformulation within the food industry to remove added sugars from their products.

What did they find?

Between 2018 and 2037, the demonstrated health impact of the added sugar label change policy alone would prevent over 350,000 cases of cardiovascular disease and over 550,000 cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus saving an estimated $31 billion in net healthcare costs. The impact on healthcare will likely be much larger as food companies research and development departments are already looking into reformulation.  The second scenario simulated indicated that any product reformulation within the food industry would prevent an additional 354,400 cases of cardiovascular disease and an additional 600,700 cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus. 

In addition to the prevention or postponement of nearly 3 million cases of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, this policy change is estimated to gain 1.3 million quality-adjusted life-years, a measurement used to estimate disease burden on both quantity and quality of life lived. Researchers concluded, “Our investigation suggests that timely implementation of the FDA’s added sugar labeling policy would generate significant health gains and both healthcare and societal cost savings. Industry reformulation motivated by this policy could provide substantial additional benefits”.

This study shines a light on a group funded by the National Institute of Health, called Food-PRICE.  This group of highly skilled and expertly trained collaborative researchers are working to identify and prioritize the most impactful policy changes to implement that will result in the largest improvement in the prevalence of chronic diseases in Americans today, particularly cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.  This research group has now identified a total of eight interventions showing statistically significant impact on human health and wellness at the national level. Some of these interventions include a nationwide soda tax, nationwide subsidy for fruits and vegetables, calorie labeling on menus, restrictions on food industry marketing towards children, food product reformulation to reduce sodium and sugar content, health warning labels on processed meats, and many more. Some states have already begun implementing some of these interventions, however, we have yet to see many of these implemented at the national level.

For further details on the study and the implication on public health, check out the article published in Tufts University December 2019 issue of TuftsNow.