FDA proposes including 'added sugar' to labels

The FDA has proposed a big change to food package labels. The government and nutritionists alike want it to be very clear before eat you something just how much added sugar is in it.
 
Here’s an example of a typical food label for a 230-calorie snack. You will see how much sodium and how many carbs it has. But look at the sugar. The FDA thinks this only tells half the story. It wants an added line for added sugar. And here’s why.

Breakfast. It's our first chance to get a healthy meal into our children before they head off to school. And fruit is a great choice. It can be sweet - which kids like - and healthy - which you like.
 
Jessica Todd is a nutrition expert at Georgia State University. 
 
“Let's say you have an orange. It's going to give you fiber. It's going to give you water. It's going to give you vitamin C. It's going to give you natural sugar.”
 
We look at an instant oatmeal dish that is flavored with apples and cinnamon. Healthy, right?
 
“Well, you would think so,” said Jessica Todd from the GSU food lab.
 
But, if you look more closely, this single serving of instant oatmeal has 12 grams of sugar.  Sure some of it occurs naturally through the oatmeal and the added fruit, but Jessica Todd says, most of it is added sugar.
 
“Your taste buds don't know the difference, but nutrition per bite is very different.”

Did you know that honey-flavored, whole grain cereal can be loaded down with 17 grams of sugar?
 
Jessica Todd reads the label. 
 
“The first ingredient is a whole grain oats and that's great. Our second ingredient is sugar. Our third ingredient is oat bran. Our fourth ingredient honey. That's a sugar. Then, we have brown sugar syrup that's a sugar.” 
 
The FDA recommends we consume only 50 grams of added sugar a day. This bowl of cereal could be as much as 30 percent of your daily allowance.
 
But right now you can't tell from the label how much added sugar you're really taking in.
 
So, the FDA has proposed a change to food labels. Labels would keep the line that shows you the total amount of sugar. But under it, it would like to add a line that shows how much manufacturer's toss in there, too. And, how much of your daily allowance you're eating with that one meal.
 
The director of the GSU Food Lab Program tells her students that sugar is a manufacturer's dream; that's why it's in everything from your ketchup to your low-fat salad dressing.  It does more than make food taste better.
 
“In a baked good it adds color flakiness. It adds moisture and it also is a preservative. It adds shelf stability. It lasts longer.”
 
Now, some things we buy, like soda, we know are loaded with sugar.
 
“A 20 ounce bottle is going to have about 66 grams of sugar. And that's all added sugar. That will be 236 percent of your daily value. That one soda,” explains Jessica Todd.
 
But even when you're trying to eat healthy, it's hard.

That whole grain cereal we talked about for breakfast? That's 24 percent of your daily allowance. A healthy salad at lunch can eat up 12 percent of your daily intake. How? Well, that four-ounce serving of bottled salad dressing has a lot of added sugar. Then you have a healthy mid-day yogurt snack. It has 26 grams of sugar, and you could be at 88 percent of your daily added sugar intake and you're still at work. 
 
“At the end of the day, there is a lot of added sugar. And if we're trying to stick to less than 50 grams, that'll quickly add up.” said Jessica Todd.
 
I started looking at labels and found the perfect example of what we're talking about here. My daughter's unsweetened applesauce has 8 grams of sugar. Natural sugar. It's just applesauce and water. Applesauce with sweetness added jumps it up to 17 grams of sugar. Big difference.