Washington - US food companies should add detailed information on labels telling consumers about ingredients, freshness and processing steps such as irradiation or genetic engineering, a consumer group said.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that while the United States leads the world in requiring complete nutrition information on food labels, the nation lags in other areas of food information.
The European Union has already adopted rules requiring food makers to identify specific amounts of key ingredients, such as the amount of strawberries in strawberry yogurt or the volume of vegetables in Chinese spring rolls. The EU also requires freshness dates on all foods except produce, wines and a few other exceptions.
“Given the prevalence of diet-related diseases, nutrition labeling is a public health necessity,” said Bruce Silverglade, head of legal affairs for CSPI. “Consumers in practically all countries need this information to protect their health.”
The United States does require complete nutrition data on food labels, which tell how much fat, calories and carbohydrates are in a food. The US Agriculture Department has promised to issue rules later this summer for how meat packing plants can use irradiation, and how they must label their products.
Genetic engineering has been a controversial issue for the US food industry, which maintains that genetic modifications are not “additives” as defined by US regulations and should not be required on labels.
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