Nutrition Facts labels have a complicated legacy – a historian explains the science and politics of translating food into information

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Where Do Nutrition Facts Come From?

The Nutrition Facts label, that black and white information box found on nearly every packaged food product in the U.S. since 1994, has recently become an icon for consumer transparency.

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From "Privacy Nutrition Labels" to "Garment Facts"

From Apple’s "Privacy Nutrition Labels" that disclose how smartphone apps handle user data, to a "Garment Facts" label that standardizes ethical disclosures on clothing, policy advocates across industries invoke "Nutrition Facts" as a model for empowering consumers and enabling socially responsible markets. They argue that intuitive information fixes could solve a wide range of market-driven social ills.

But This Familiar Label Has a Complicated Legacy

I study food regulation and diet culture and became interested in the Nutrition Facts label while researching the history of FDA policies on food standards and labeling. In 1990, Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, mandating nutrition labels on all packaged foods to help address growing concerns about rising rates of chronic illnesses linked to unhealthy diets.

How Did Nutrition Facts Become So Complex?

The daily value, or DV, percentages on the label don’t all come from the same source. This is a reflection of differing public health targets for the label.

Where Do Daily Values Come From?

Recommended values for micronutrients like vitamins are based on Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs, from the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine. Vitamin RDAs were developed out of historical concerns with undernourishment and meeting minimum needs.

Why 2,000 Calories?

The FDA almost used 2,350 calories as the baseline for calculating daily values, because it was the recommended population-adjusted average caloric need for Americans ages four and older. But after pushback from health groups concerned the higher baseline would encourage overconsumption, the FDA settled on 2,000 calories.

Who Determines Serving Sizes?

According to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, serving sizes should reflect "an amount customarily used."

What’s in a Name?

The label was almost called "Nutrition Values" or "Nutrition Guide" to highlight that Daily Values were recommendations. Then FDA Deputy Commissioner Mike Taylor proposed "Nutrition Facts" to sound more legally neutral and scientifically objective.

New Ways to Calculate the Facts

Establishing the Nutrition Facts label required building an entirely new technical infrastructure for nutrition information. Translating the diverse American diet into a consistent set of standardized nutrients necessitated new measures, testing procedures, and standard references.

Legacy of the Nutrition Facts Label

Today, public-private collaborations have taken this translation of foods into simplified nutrient profiles further by making nutrition facts plug-and-play. The USDA FoodData Central provides a comprehensive database of nutrient profiles for individual ingredients that manufacturers use to calculate Nutrition Facts for new packaged foods. This database also powers many diet and nutrition apps.

Conclusion

The Nutrition Facts label has become a cornerstone of consumer information and market infrastructure. But its legacy is complex, reflecting a history of political compromise, scientific controversy, and evolving public health priorities.

FAQs

Q: Why do daily values vary on the Nutrition Facts label?
A: The daily values on the Nutrition Facts label come from different sources, including the Recommended Dietary Allowances for micronutrients and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for macronutrients.

Q: Why did the FDA choose 2,000 calories as the baseline for daily values?
A: The FDA chose 2,000 calories as the baseline for daily values after considering pushback from health groups concerned a higher baseline would encourage overconsumption.

Q: How did the Nutrition Facts label come to be called "Nutrition Facts"?
A: The label was almost called "Nutrition Values" or "Nutrition Guide," but the FDA proposed "Nutrition Facts" to sound more legally neutral and scientifically objective.