Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2015 — When it comes to nutrition, knowledge is power [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

When it comes to nutrition, knowledge is power

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration announced new rules requiring all restaurants and food establishments that sell prepared foods and that have 20 or more locations to post the calorie content of their food "clearly and conspicuously" on menus, menu boards and displays by November 2015. This change will allow consumers to evaluate meal cost and nutritional values when dining out. The change follows several other consumer concerns and requests.

It's reassuring that Americans eonhnue to show eoneem about the nutritional value in the foods they purchase for their families. The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture are the federal agencies responsible for studying the situations and changing rules. Over several decades, both agencies have acted to "set the bar" on the goals that assure a number of nutrients "of eoneem" and the quality of processed food. Actually, this started with eoncerns that arose during recruitment of Americans for World War II, when many recruits were found to have similar nutritional deficiencies. As a result, the federal government required restoring of certain nutrients in "basic foods" (mainly, breads and cereals, and later, pasta) that were lost in refining of flour and cereals. Primarily, it's the B vitamins and iron that are

lost while refining whole grains into white flour. Thus, the enrichment of cereals and breads was required by law by mid-1940s. Food labels must always indicate nutrient "enrichment" (restoring some nutrients to usual levels) or "fortification" (adding a nutrient to a food or boosting the level of a nutrient in a food). An example of a "fortified" food is Cream of Wheat, whieh assures 10.4 mg of iron, per eup, cooked. However, enrichment and fortification, still, do not compensate for all nutrient losses in refining processes. Whole grains provide far more nutritional value. In the mid-1900s, the federal government began requiring labels on all packaged or canned foods sold in the U.S. to list ingredients in the food, in descending order by weight. And, the lahel must also clearly state the size and number of

individual servings of the food in the package or container. In 2005, nutrition labeling began to require even more detailed information, related to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines set by the USDA. All food labels must now list the amount of certain key nutrients in eaeh serving of the food, (i.e. calories, grams of fat, carbohydrates and protein, and milligrams of cholesterol and sodium) in the container. And, the lahel information must indicate the percentage of these nutrients, as a percent of the "Daily Values" required in a 2,000calorie dietary intake. And, so, current food labeling rules: 1) assure key nutrients in foods, 2) require information on how a single serving of food meets the daily dietary requirements, and 3) provide the customer with tools to compare similar foods by nutritional content andprice per serving,

before making the purchase. In the late 1980s, the puhlie began requesting nutritional information on fast foods. By the late 1900s, all national fast-food chains began providing nutrition information, on site, to the puhlie. Later, this information was posted online. In the last few years, consumers have been asking for information about restaurant meals. Clearly, consumer eoneem has initiated several excellent information changes in the U.S food supply ... of processed food labels, fast foods and, now, restaurants. As a result, we have all gained "tools" to help us in make family food choices ... weighing family nutrition needs and food budget. Take advantage of these "tools" to "get the biggest bang for your buck" while protecting your family's health. It all makes cents. ■

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