Unveiling a Uniform FrontofPackage Nutrition Labeling Program

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Unveiling a Uniform Front-of-Package Nutrition
Labeling Program

• Presentation of the Smart Choices Program
• Biscuit and Cracker Manufacturers Association
• 84th Technical Conference
• September 22, 2009

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What We Want to Do

• Introduce you to a new coalition-based approach
  to front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labeling
• An effort spearheaded by the Keystone Center that
  involved multiple stakeholders
• Preview the major program components
• New symbol and calorie information
• Provide brief overview of the nutrition criteria
  and food categories
• Including scientific foundation, rationale
• Discuss our implementation plan and next steps

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About the Keystone Center

• The Keystone Center works with a broad array of
  stakeholders to develop consensus solutions to
  complex health and social policy changes
• Wide range of projects in the area of health
  policy
• Medicine, health care, food and nutrition,
  workplace safety, chronic and infectious diseases
• The Keystone Food and Nutrition Roundtable was
  established in 2007 to drive durable improvements
  in the American diet and public health
• Initial focus on the food label
• Evolved into a discussion of FOP labeling

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About ASN/NSF

• After conducting in-depth research and
  interviewing candidates, the coalition identified
  American Society of Nutrition (ASN) and NSF
  International (NSF) to serve as the governing
  body and mechanism for this program.

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Our Coalition-Based Approach

• Unique, unprecedented partnership
• Bringing together wide range of perspectives
• Collaborative effort during last two years
• Committed to concept of single, uniform system
• Input included
• Scientists and nutrition educators
• Experts with dietary guidelines experience
• Public health organizations
• Food manufacturers
• Retailers

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Government Observers

• Government agencies served as observers and
  consulted in the dialogue throughout this
  collaborative process
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (ARS and CNPP)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Food and Drug Administration (CFSAN)
• Federal Trade Commission
• National Institutes of Health

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Why We Came Together
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Need For Alignment

• Proliferation of labels
• Numerous front-of-pack symbols and icons
• Little uniformity
• Derived from different criteria, have various
  meanings
• Concerns about potential confusion
• Clutter the aisles and shoppers minds

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Consistent Message

• A unified approach will help bring clarity and
  consistency to the marketplace
• Providing a consistent message no matter where
  someone shops or what brands they buy
• The end goal
• To help make it easier for people to quickly
  identify smarter food and beverage choices
• within product categories

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How The Group Has Worked

• Activity
• Series of plenary meetings
• Intensive work groups
• Resources
• Relying on consensus science
• Outside expertise in consumer research, creative
  design and communications
• Key protocols
• Consensus-based decision making
• Deliberations off-the-record and not for
  attribution
• Participants speak as individuals, not
  organizations

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Defining Elements

• Transparent
• Nutrition elements (including criteria) and
  governing mechanism
• Developed collaboratively
• Scientific consensus, diverse panel of sectors
  and disciplines
• Cuts potential consumer confusion
• Simple to use, widely implemented
• Comprehensive
• Diet and health needs of entire U.S. population
• Sustainable
• Durable over time, responsive to new information
• Criteria guides food product innovation and
  reformulation
• Applied voluntarily

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Take A Look
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Smart Choices Program

• A front-of-pack symbol to guide consumers in
  making smarter food and beverage choices
• Individual products evaluated against nutrition
  criteria established for 19 different product
  categories
• Front-of-pack calorie information intended to
  help people stay within their daily calorie needs
• Calories per serving, servings per container
• Required on products carrying the symbol
• Nutrition criteria based on nutrients to limit,
  nutrients/food groups to encourage
• Positive attributes do not compensate for
  nutrients to limit

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Nutrition Criteria

• Derived from consensus science
• 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• FDA standard definition for healthy
• USDA definition for extra lean
• Additional federal standards and authoritative
  guidance
• Institutes of Medicine, World Health
  Organization, Centers for Disease Control
• When necessary, will be revised to reflect
  updated authoritative guidance, including 2010
  Dietary Guidelines for Americans

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Nutrition CriteriaCategory-Specific

• Nutrients to limit
• Total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol,
  added sugars, sodium
• Nutrients to encourage
• Calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, vitamin A,
  vitamin C, vitamin E
• Nutrients of concern as identified in Dietary
  Guidelines for Americans
• 10 Daily Value (good source)
• Food groups to encourage
• Fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
  fat-free/low-fat milk products
• Provide at least 1/2 serving as identified in
  Dietary Guidelines for Americans

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General Benchmarks
Total Fat
35 of calories
Saturated Fat
lt 10 of calories
Trans Fat
0 g (labeled)
Cholesterol
60 mg per serving
Added Sugars
25 of calories
Sodium
480 mg per serving
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Calories

• No authoritative, scientific standard for calorie
  threshold based on 2,000 calorie diet
• Calorie levels set for
• Meals, sauces, snacks, desserts and beverages
• Not applicable for
• Processed fruits, vegetables, 100 juices
• Breads, grains, pasta, cereals
• Fresh/frozen/canned fruits and vegetables with no
  additives
• Meat, fish, poultry eggs, meat alternatives
• Seeds, nuts, nut butters
• Milk, dairy products, dairy substitutes
  (including soy beverages), cheeses/cheese
  substitutes
• Fats, oils and spreads (including butter)
• Soups, meal sauces, and mixed side dishes
• Alternative thresholds for products 100 calories
  or less
• To prevent lower calorie options from missing the
  mark on smaller portion sizes

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Food Specific CriteriaSnack Foods and Sweets

• Calories lt 160
• Total Fat lt 35 calories or lt 3g/100 calories
• Saturated Fat lt calories or lt 1g/100 calories
• Trans Fat 0g labeled
• Cholesterol lt 60mg/RACC
• Added Sugar lt 25 calories or 6g/100 calories
• Sodium lt 240 mg
• AND
• Nutrients to Encourage (10 DV Ca, K, Fiber, Mg,
  Vit A,C or E)
• OR
• Food Group to Encourage (½ serving Fruits,
  Vegetables, Whole Grains, or Fat free of low fat
  Milk Products)

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Added Sugars Rationale
In some cases, small amounts of sugars added to
nutrient-dense foods, such as breakfast cereals
and reduced-fat milk products, may increase a
persons intake of such foods by enhancing the
palatability of these products, thus improving
nutrient intake without contributing excessive
calories.

• Considered on a meal basis
• WHO (2003) 10 of calories from free sugars,
• 2000 calorie diet x .10 200 calories/day
• Based on 4 eating occasions per day
• 200 calories/4 eating occasions 50
  calories/eating occasion
• Grams per eating occasion 50 calories/4 12.5
  g (rounded to 12 g)

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Filling Nutrient Gaps

• Dietary guidelines recommend eating a variety of
  foods from all food groups every day
• Smart Choices Program nutrients to encourage
• Calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, vitamin A,
  vitamin C, vitamin E
• Nutrients of concern as identified in Dietary
  Guidelines for Americans
• 10 Daily Value (good source)
• Smart Choices Program food groups to encourage
• Fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
  fat-free/low-fat milk products
• Provide at least 1/2 serving as identified in
  Dietary Guidelines for Americans

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Whole Grains

• 1/2 serving or 8 g
• Based on 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
  16 g 1 oz. equivalent of whole grains
• USDA statement 8 g significant source of whole
  grains
• Exceptions
• Grain-based foods (breads, cereals, pasta, etc.)
• Whole grains must be gt 50 of the grains (meets
  recommendation that half the grains be whole
  grains/Dietary Guidelines for Americans)
• Minimum of 8 g of whole grain per serving

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Approach to Fortification

• Fortification is credited for purposes of
  qualifying a product to carry the symbol
• Important to note
• All nutrients to encourage in the Smart Choices
  Program are shortfall nutrients as identified in
  the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Some product categories do not require a nutrient
  or food group to encourage, in come cases to
  avoid motivating inappropriate fortification
• Implementing companies will be expected to adhere
  to FDA fortification policy

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Product Categories
Bread, grains, pasta

• Nutrients to limit and 1 nutrient or food group
  to encourage

Cereals

• Nutrients to limit and 1 nutrient or food group
  to encourage

Snack foods and Sweets

• Nutrients to limit and 1 nutrient or food group
  to encourage

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Why FOP Calorie Information?

• Calories count!
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize
  importance of consuming a healthy diet within
  daily calorie needs
• Energy BALANCE is essential
• Calories in vs. calories out is necessary to
  maintain a healthy weight
• Energy IMBALANCE is key factor contributing to
  overweight and obesity
• Public policy guidance repeatedly states
  relationship between obesity and health risks

Americans should obtain adequate nutrients within
calorie needs.
2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
To maintain a constant body weight over time,
energy in from food must equal energy out
FDA Calories Count
Increases in weight are of a concern due to
implications for health. Being overweight or
obese increases the risk of many diseases and
health conditions.
CDC Achieving a Balance
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FOP Calorie Information

• Identifies calories per serving and number of
  servings per container on the front-of-pack
• Intended to help people stay within daily calorie
  needs as they make smarter food and beverage
  choices
• Replicates calorie information from Nutrition
  Facts panel
• Goals of putting calories on front-of-pack
• Provide easy to find, easy to read information
• Provide context around portion size
• Help people make informed decisions about how
  much of a product to eat or drink
• Allow for easy calorie comparisons within product
  categories

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How We Came To This Approach
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Varied Approaches to
FOP Labeling

• Smart food and beverage choices
• Fact-based
• Nutrient profiling
• Food ranking or scoring
• Traffic light
• Nutrient content

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Benefits of Our Approach

• Flags the foods and beverages you want to
  encourage
• Based on consensus science
• Goes beyond the information in the Nutrition
  Facts panel
• Not simply a summary of the facts
• Nutrition criteria specific to product categories
• Allows for product comparisons within categories
• Brings calorie information from the back or side
  panel to the front
• Reinforces the calories count message
• Reduces the confusion of multiple systems

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Validated With Consumers

• Commissioned consumer research by Perception
  Research Services
• Experts in package labeling field research
• Qualitative phase
• To explore reactions to a range of FOP
  expressions to guide refinements and enhancements
• Quantitative phase
• To evaluate the extent program elements deliver
  against the in-going brief to help consumers
  easily identify smart food and beverage choices
  within a given category

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Qualitative Research Results

• Consumers in 8 focus groups told us
• They like the idea of a sound labeling system
  because
• It would help them identify smarter food and
  beverages choices would simplify the shopping
  and selection experience
• It would provide nutritional credibility through
  consistent, uniform standard within product
  categories and brands
• They found the proposed symbol easy to interpret
• It clearly communicated smart choices in a
  simple, confident and credible way
• It provided a source of encouragement and
  approval, was serious, conveyed the idea of good
  nutrition and made them interested in further
  information
• They thought calorie information on front-of-pack
  would be valuable
• Easy to see, important information to have

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Key Feedback
With this program you dont have to learn each
companys symbol.
Itll help people to help themselves.
If I make this choice Ill be proud of myself.
I would look closer at the packages that are
marked this way. It would draw me in.
With this, the homework has already been done
for us.
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Key Findings

• Both options (symbol alone and symbol plus
  calorie information) significantly improve (p
  .01) peoples ability to identify smarter food
  and beverage choices
• Though eye tracking suggests consumers dont
  immediately notice the symbol or calorie
  information, in actual practice the system
  clearly helps consumers identify smarter food and
  beverage choices
• Inclusion of the symbol and calorie information
  had no negative effect on consumers likelihood
  of looking at the Nutrition Facts information
• Consumer perceptions of the symbol and calorie
  information are positive
• 75 of respondents say both would be helpful in
  making food and beverage choices, as well as
  identifying smarter options among the products
  available

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Additional Consumer Benefit

• Stimulate product innovations and reformulations
• R D hard at work changing existing products and
  developing new products that would meet the
  strict nutrition criteria nutrition criteria
• Change the face of the supermarket
• Offering more choices to help promote public
  health

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Whats Next

• Continue to brief key stakeholders
• Government agencies, manufacturers and retailers
• Eight companies have committed to participate
  while dialogue continues with other companies
• Media outreach began August 2009
• Consumer education plan TBD
• Roll-out in summer 2009

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Smart Choices Program

• Companies participating in
• the Smart Choices Program
• Launch include
• ConAgra
• General Mills
• Kellogg
• Kraft Foods
• PepsiCo
• Sun Maid
• Tyson
• Unilever

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www.SmartChoicesProgram.com

• For more information
• Please call 877-SCP-1410 (877-727-1410)
• Sarah Krol, Business Manager, Smart Choices
  Programinfo_at_smartchoicesprogram.com

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Questions?
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