In the FDA’s draft guidance for industry posted in February, the agency said it required the added sugars declaration because “excess consumption of added sugars makes it difficult to meet nutrient needs within the calorie limits generally needed to maintain a healthy weight and can lead to an increase in overall caloric intake.” Concern about the association of sugar-sweetened foods and beverages with the risk of cardiovascular disease was also mentioned.###”If these products are not labeled with the amount of added sugars per serving, consumers would not be able to understand the relative significance of these sources of added sugars in the context of a total daily diet,” the agency said.###The FDA acknowledged that objections to the proposferrous sulfate nauseaal from honey and maple syrup and cranberry producers had convinced it to allow the use of a “†” symbol after the percent daily value of added sugars on these products. The symbol would provide additional information on the package explaining the context — the product counts toward added sugars, but no other sweeteners have been added. Cranberry producers would be able to use the symbol to explain that sugars are added to the naturally tart fruit to make it palatable, but the total amount of sugar is the same as a comparable fruit product with no sweeteners added.###People and industry groups posting to the FDA’s comment site indicated that honey and maple syrup are naturally occurring products and have nothing extra added, so there’s no reason to list added sugars on their product labels. For that rferrous fumarate green stooleason, some said the requirement is both misleading and untruthful.###It’s quite possible the added sugars and the voluntarily explanatory note could cause consumer confusion about exactly what is in honey, maple syrup and the affected cranberry products. It’s also not certain that consumers would actually read the added sugars listing, let alone a footnote elsewhere on the label explaining why they’re listed.###Many consumers say they want more ingredient information on food and beverage labels, even though they sometimes ignore it. Sugar is one ingredient consumers are most wanting to limit. According to a survey from Label Insight, 22% of consumers want to restrict their sugar intake. Calling out added sugars on labels is one thing that will help in those efforts. Manufacturers have been trying to reduce the amount of sugar in their products and have adopted a number of strategies, such as substituting sweeter stevia, adding artificial sweeteners, or using newly developed types of sugar. As food and beverage makers add this information, more consumers may pay attention to it.###Footnotes giving the daily value on products are undoubtedly useful to some consumers, who may find them helpferrous gluconate over the counterful in planning their diets. However, they will likely be baffling to most consumers. The footnotes are almost certain to harm pure honey and maple syrup sales if shoppers just see the added sugar totals and assume something else has been added to the products.###It’s uncertain whether FDA will back off of the added sugars requirement foferrous bisglycinate 20mgr honey, maple syrup and some cranberry products because of the negative response. Comments on the plan are due Friday.###The “added sugars” portion of the label is nowhere near as straightforward as it seems. FDA will also require sugars in processed fruits or vegetables to be labeled as added if they contain morferric sodium edta usese sugar than the same amount of pure produce. While potentially confusing, it makes more sense than requiring added sugars to be listed on products that haven’t actually added anything, though it’s incumbent on brands to explain the manufacturing process to clarify whether sugars are added or natural.
Commenters are sour on FDA's plan to list added sugars on honey, maple syrup and cranberry products
