WHY THE FDA LABELing DOES NOT WORK
Rethink the Food Label (as its name suggests) was a contest to make nutrition labels more informative and understandable. The standard black-and-white label, which has not changed since the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act created it in 1991, is long overdue for a modernization. It is easy to focus on the inefficiencies of the current nutrition label, most importantly the lack of information available such as Genetic Engineered ingredients (GE). Renee Walker’s winning label design features bright colors and comprehensible graphics which illustrate the food’s ingredients and relative “goodness.” ditching the standard black-and-white model for one which improves nutrition literacy. The most important information for consumers included the ingredients and the balance of nutri-
brighter the color, the healthier the food.” I created an innovative design which incorporates a variety of colors to present ingredients as a proportion of the food as a whole as well as includes a graphic portion which indicates the calories and nutrients based on the recommended daily intake contained in a standard serving. She said “It will be easy to convert this idea to one which can be used to identify genetic engineering” This design can change the way people think about food. So let it not be said there is no efficient labeling which will work to provide information on genetic engineering.
ents the item would provide for their daily food intake, both of which are difficult to read and interpret with the current food label design. “I didn’t want to create anything making the food more complicated than it had to be,” Walker says. “What’s in the food is most important, so I chose to highlight the ingredients as the first thing people see. The ingredients should be the most prominent part on the label.” “The coloring distinguishes the different food groups, like the food pyramid, where brighter colors represent what’s good for you and grayer colors show additives and preservatives,” she says. “So the
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