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How U.S. Food Labels Compare To Those in France, Mexico and Chile

Other Countries Make More Helpful Comparisons, According To a Washington Post Op-ed, Co-authored by LDI Senior Fellow Christina Roberto

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Over 40 countries are using easy-to-grasp, front-of-package nutrition information to show which foods are healthier or not. The U.S. has so far not required these up-front labels, relying on the food industry’s voluntary efforts that many people find confusing. 

The FDA has been doing consumer research with the goal of releasing the nation’s first front-of-package labels as soon as June, according to a Washington Post op-ed, co-authored by LDI Senior Fellow Christina Roberto.   

The U.S. food industry favors a front-of-package label similar to the current system of side and back labels, which show grams or milligrams of key nutrients coupled with percent Daily Values. See below.  

Also below are examples of the more direct approach that many countries have taken with the “excess sugar” stop signs in Mexico and Chile, and the Nutri-Score system in France, Roberto and her colleagues noted. 

United States

Examples of Labels from other Countries:

Mexico: Calories, Sugar, Fat, Trans Fats, Sodium
France evaluates a product from its nutritional profile and assigns a letter grade
Chile: Calories, Sugar, Salt

Author

Karl Stark

Karl Stark

Director of Content Strategy

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