Nutrition Labels: Helpful, or Just Plain Confusing?
October 6, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
According to recent reports, nutrition labels may be misleading consumers into underconsuming some key nutrients, particularly calcium.
A woman at risk for osteoporosis is told by her doctor to get 1,200-1,500 milligrams of calcium every day. But when she looks at the Nutrition Facts panel on a carton of yogurt or a jug of milk, she finds that calcium is only listed by “Percent Daily Value” (%DV).
How does she convert that to milligrams?
If she’s like most of us…she can’t. And neither can her doctor.
Those were among the findings of research conducted by Laura A. Peracchio, professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), and Lauren Block, professor of marketing at Baruch College (CUNY). The results were so compelling that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added information to its Web site on how to translate %DV to milligrams.
Do you know how to interpret food labeling to make sure you’re getting what you need? You may think you know the answer, but it may be worth a visit to your doctor or a consultation with a nutritionist to be certain. And for free, at-your-fingertips resources, check out the FDA’s online food labeling info.
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
That specific example seems to be a failure of basic math skills. 100% of the RDA is 1,000mg – pretty easy conversion.
That said, I agree that labels should be clearer by stating actual amounts and not percentages.