(CBS) – The nutrition labels we see on food packages may be due for an upgrade.
The government’s latest research shows consumers are misreading the labels – and may be consuming a lot more calories than they think.
The Food and Drug Administration surveyed thousands of consumers who said they find some of the information confusing – particularly when it comes to how many calories are inside..
The FDA has some proposals to simplify things. For example, calculating the nutrition in snack-sized bags as just one big serving. Or using a dual column system: one column with calories per serving, the other for the total package.
The FDA is also considering a larger font size for numbers that show calories and removing the “calories from fat” section , which is difficult for consumers to understand.
The next step is to get input from the public and try the changes in stores.
