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New packaging may help shoppers make smarter choices, but experts aren’t sure

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

Food manufactures recently announced a plan to put nutritional information on the front of their packages in order to make it easier for shoppers to find the nutritional values of the foods they eat, which could benefit anyone who has received unhealthy vitamin D test results. However, some experts remain skeptical of the effect that this will have on shoppers habits.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association announced that its products will soon contain information on the front of packages on sodium, fat, sugar, calories and other nutrients, such as vitamin D.

Officials from the company said that the move is intended to help consumers choose items that are low in harmful nutrients and high in vitamin and minerals.

However, some experts charge that the strategy is designed to preempt pending legislation that would require manufacturers to offer more complete listings of nutritional information on the front of packages, and that information currently included is incomplete and misleading.

"Just putting those numbers on the front of packages could be confusing rather than helpful," Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, told USA Today. "People may not know how to use these numbers in the context of a day's diet."