From the Archives: Forget Nutrition Labels — When Will Real Obesity Solutions Emerge?

Some ideas are too good to stay in the dustbin. Here's an old piece of mine I think you'll like, and there'll be another every other week.

But first, a brief note on the FDA’s recent work on nutrition labels:

FDA is currently doing research on a mandatory label to go on the front of food packages to help people identify food “that can help them build a healthy eating pattern.” It is particularly for “those with lower nutrition knowledge.” Here’s one they are studying:

The stoplight colors are the familiar ones: green—go: yellow—maybe; red—no, i.e., not healthy. If it looks like a mixed message on the food overall, you’re right, and that’s before you try to figure out if that’s a lot of calories for this food. You might ask, which is the most important amongst the four categories, which is least important? Do some categories matter more for some people than others? 

For most of us, it’s like the old Muppet’s joke, “What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhino?  ElifIknow.  

Just like the food label, not terribly helpful.

Read the full piece on my Substack here.