In my opinion, most of the earlier press articles presented a great deal of misinformation (disinformation?). The FDA has their own press release on exactly what they are proposing. There are a pile of links at the bottom with more information. Note that the two Federal Register notices of proposed rule making are only draft place holders now; they will be officially published on March 3. That starts the 90 day period for public comment.
The only "conventional measures" are the serving size which has always been and still is dual. None of the teaspoons of sugar the press created hoopla about are in the FDA proposal. Link to FDA press release: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm387418.htm I don't find the changes all that "sweeping;" *The more realistic serving sizes make sense and reflect the way people eat the product. *The larger font for calories, line for "added sugar," and a couple of new required essential nutrients are changes, but are they "sweeping changes?" ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 1:38 PM Subject: [USMA:53606] Re: [USMA-53604] US plans sweeping food label changes I had brought this matter to the attention of this list several weeks ago when it was first announced. It seems to be moving much faster that could have been predicted, perhaps because of Michelle Obama's involvement. The danger is that some self-appointed "consumer advocate" group wanted to use "common measures" to describe quantities of a serving. Such measures would likely include the teaspoon and tablespoon that USMA Vice President Paul Trusten so rightfully dreads, as well as "ounces." Why Michelle Obama, having no government position, should be so involved in this matter is probably because of a perceived "political" benefit, because she has no scientific, measurement, or medical background that I am aware of. She is likely to be operating in ignorance, at least as far as it comes to measurement issues, and probably the medical issues as well. Given the cool reception of the Metric Petition by the Obama White House, I would not expect either Michelle or husband to be very aware of the measurement issues here, not to speak of the medical issues. I hope that in the last weeks, Lorelle Young, USMA President, and Paul Trusten have been working on an official approach to the controlling agency (Food & Drug Administration?), so that the U.S. Metric Association can be brought in as a technical consultant and have major input into the proposals and final design of the Nutrition Label. This is an important and practical issue into which the USMA can dig its teeth. These nutritional labels are viewed every day by hundreds of millions of people. Just think what an impact a completely metric label would have! Paul, being a registered pharmacist, would be in a unique position to be a government consultant on this matter. Not only is he familiar with the medical aspects, but also with the metrication aspects. Martin Morrison "Metric Today" Columnist ============ On Thu, 27 Feb 2014, Metric Rules Info wrote: > I saw this story on the BBC News iPhone App and thought you should see it: > > US plans sweeping food label changes > > First Lady Michelle Obama is to unveil plans for the most sweeping overhaul > of nutrition labels on US food packages in more than two decades. > > Read more: > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26371692
