Trump admin. delays Obama-era reboot of nutrition label amid industry pressure

Enlarge / Former First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the new, modernized Nutrition Facts Label at the Building a Healthier Future Summit. (credit: Getty | Nurphoto)

Following pressure from the food and beverage industry, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it would indefinitely delay the rollout of new nutrition labels that were designed to help consumers better evaluate the contents of packaged foods.

The nutrition label redesign was finalized in May of 2016 and championed by Michelle Obama as part of nutrition reforms. The tweaks include: highlighting calorie content, per serving as well as per package; noting the amount of added sugars; and adding the amounts of vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium instead of just showing percentages of daily recommended values.

Manufacturers originally had more than two years to refresh their labels with the new standards. The deadline for large producers was July 26, 2018, while those making less than $10 million in annual food sales had an additional year. Some companies are smoothly working on the roll-out of their new labels, while others pushed back on lawmakers, saying they needed more time.

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