There is every reason to believe that your health is shaped to a major degree by what and how much you put in your mouth.
As you were growing up, your mother tried to teach you what you ought to eat. It didn't work. Now the government is picking up where your mother left off.
Spelling it all out
If the Feds fail in their effort to replace Mom, it won't be for lack of trying. In 1990, the government enacted the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. These new regulations mandated provision of basic information about foods, such as caloric content, calorie type (particularly calories from fat), and the content of all additives. All the information on the new labels is indexed to standard portion sizes, not presented in terms of weight or volume.
The goal of the 400-plus pages of regulations was to make food choices comprehensible and to diminish the opportunities for "creative" labeling. Manufacturers now must specify the precise amount of actual fruit and vegetable juice in juice drinks. Terms such as "free," "low," "light," and "fresh" have precise definitions, and the government monitors the health claims for food values in regard to specific conditions, such as osteoporosis or high cholesterol levels.
Bring your reading glasses
No matter how much information labels include, they're of no use unless people read them. It's still up to you to be smart enough to know the few basic steps to healthy nutrition and to apply them when you make food choices. A knowledgeable gourmet has a big advantage, healthwise, over an ignorant one.
Revise your shopping habits to include another step--evaluating the nutritional value of the components of every meal. As you look at a food selection, pay attention not only to the price, but also to the label. What really is it that you are buying? Being an informed purchaser and provider is being responsible.
New incentives
Another benefit of the new labeling regulations--and more the informed consumers they create--is that the food industry will have to try to give you healthier food. A recent survey of food producers indicated that 70 percent of manufacturers are currently doing research on ways to make their products healthier.
But those efforts--and your own health--depend on your taking the first step, and taking the time to become food smart. I'm sure your mother would agree to that.
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