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Female Speaker: Thank you so much,
Secretary Sebelius.
I'm really delighted to be joining all of you for
today's "Let's Move" announcement, in which FDA
is unveiling our proposed changes to a new and
improved -- a more user-friendly version of
the Nutrition Facts label.
But before I walk through our proposed changes, I
always want to join Secretary Sebelius and
take a moment to thank First Lady Michelle Obama
for her continued commitment to encouraging
Americans to live healthier lifestyles, and
to recognize, of course, the fouryear anniversary
of the "Let's Movie" initiative.
For 20 years, we've relied on the now-icon Nutrition
Facts label to help us make informed food choices
when deciding what to eat.
When it was first introduced back in 1994,
this landmark label provided the American
consumer for the first time with the uniform
information about the nutritional content of the
foods.
Since then, we've gained a better understanding of
the relationship between what we eat and many
serious chronic diseases affecting millions of
Americans.
For example, we know that eating more calories than
needed to maintain our body weight, coupled with
a lack of physical activity, is a primary
risk factor for obesity in the general population.
FDA experts relied on data from a variety of sources,
including the Institute of Medicine, to design this
new label.
Let me highlight some of the proposed changes.
First, sugar.
We know that, as a nation, we eat too much added
sugar.
While some of those sugars occur naturally in foods,
much of it is added.
The new label would provide more information
about sugars in food by now indicating when a food
has added sugar.
And why does this really matter?
Because added sugars contribute to a
substantial portion of American calories, but
don't really provide much else in the way of
nutrients.
This has major implications for
maintaining a healthy body weight.
We believe that requiring added sugars to be listed
separately on the Nutrition Facts panel will
better allow consumers to identify and compare
products with added sugar, and enable them to make
better choices.
We also hope this change will motivate the food
industry to reformulate its products.
As many of you may know, this occurred back in
2006, when FDA required food producers to add
information about trans fats in the label.
When Americans have better options, they can make
healthier choices, and we all win.
So now, let's talk about how much we eat.
In many cases, people are now eating amounts that
are very different from the serving sizes that the
FDA first put in place back in 1994.
And I should not that our official definition for
"serving size" is a reference amount.
It reflects how much we actually eat when serving
ourselves.
And for this reference amount to be useful to the
consumer, it has to be close to what the average
person would typically eat.
So, contrary to what many may think, serving sizes
on food packages are not recommended portions.
We also know that package size affects what people
eat, and that people are likely to eat or drink all
of the contents of certain packaged foods all in one
sitting.
For packaged foods and beverages that are
typically consumed in one sitting, we propose
labeling all of them as a single serving size and
declaring calorie and nutrient information for
the entire package.
For example, a can of ready-to-eat soup is
usually consumed as a single serving.
For packages that are larger and could be
consumed either as a single or multiple
servings, manufacturers would have to provide a
dual column.
This label would indicate both per-serving and
per-package calorie and nutrient information.
And this way, people will know how many calories and
nutrients they are consuming if, in fact,
they eat or drink the entire amount at one time.
And it might be surprising to learn that, in this day
and age, there still are some nutrients that people
simply aren't getting enough of.
We've known for some time that potassium and vitamin
D are important nutrients for health and significant
for maintaining healthy lifestyles.
Potassium can help lower blood pressure, while
vitamin D is a key nutrient for helping to
promote healthy bone development and general
health.
But what's new is that current data show that
certain population groups are not getting enough of
them.
Therefore, we're proposing that these nutrients be
required elements that are listed on the Nutrition
Facts label, along with calcium and iron, which
have been required for some time.
And vitamins A and C, which are currently
required, could be listed voluntarily.
Finally, we're proposing changes to some daily
values, which are intended to be a guide for how much
of a particular nutrient a person should consume each
day or, in the case of things like sodium, an
upper limit for the day.
The daily values are used to determine the percent
daily value that you see on the label.
The percent daily value helps you see how much of
the daily value one serving of a particular
packaged food contributes.
We've determined through our scientific research
that some of these numbers should change.
While the upper limit for sodium will decrease
slightly to be in line with current
recommendations, data show that daily targets for
dietary fiber and calcium should, in fact, increase
somewhat.
So, finally, let's see what's changed about the
layout of the Nutrition Facts label itself.
You'll see that information about calories
and serving size really jumps out at you much more
than it did before.
On the other hand, we've actually removed certain
information, such as calories from fat.
And that's because we've learned that total fat is
less important than the type of fat that you eat.
And these are very important changes.
And our goal here is to design a label that is
easier to read, and one that consumers can
understand.
This proposal is the culmination of years of
research study and requests for public input.
We've welcomed the comments we've received
from experts and consumers alike to guide us towards
a label that we feel will provide people with the
information that they want and that they need.
It's clear that the benefits will far outweigh
the costs.
We believe these proposed updates to the Nutrition
Facts label will help in improving public health,
incorporating the latest nutrition recommendations
to reduce the risks of chronic disease, such as
cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood
pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
And we realize that the label alone won't
magically change how America eats.
But we hope that once consumers decide to
implement changes in their diet that lead to
healthier lifestyles, it will provide them with the
tools to be successful.
So, thank you.
And I'd now like to turn to Shanice Bryant, a
mother of four and also a grandmother, to talk about
how this matters to families.
[applause]
Shanice Bryant: Good morning.
My name is Shanice Bryant Milton , and I'm a wife, a
head-start mom, and a grandmother.
Keeping my family healthy is important to me.
I want my children and my grandchild to have the
best shot at success in the future.
But with the limited time and a limited budget,
cooking healthy food isn't always easy.
That's why I'm so grateful for the "No Kid Hungry"
campaign and their "Cooking Matters" program.
They took me around the grocery store and told me
how to read food labels, how to buy more fruits and
vegetables, and about eating whole grains.
The best part of learning that I can feed my family
a healthy, home-cooked meal on just $10.
I was shocked.
Because of -- because of "Cooking Matters," my kids
are eating and actually liking brown rice and
whole-wheat bread.
We are -- we are grilling and baking food instead of
frying it.
And we now know that half our plates should have --
should be filled with fruits and vegetables.
And when we made a simple change, my kids actually
lost weight.
My son lost 11 pounds.
Another great payoff to living a healthier --
another great payoff to living healthier is being
here today.
I'm incredibly honored to introduce the First Lady
of the United States --
[laughter]
Mrs. Michelle Obama.
[applause]
Her passion -- her passion and dedication has made a
huge difference for my family and for so many
families across the country.
Thank you.
[applause]
The First Lady: Thank you so much.
Shanice Bryant: Thank you.
>> The First Lady: Good morning, everyone.
It's great to have you all here.
Let me start by thanking Shanese for that very kind
introduction and for her wonderful remarks.
Let me just say, Shanese, when we heard in the back
that you were a grandmother,
everybody was like, really?
She's a grandmother?
(laughter)
We thought you were a teenager.
(laughter)
See what eating healthy does?
(laughter)
But it's great to have you here.
Thank you so much for working so hard to keep
your family in shape and healthy.
We're very proud of you, very proud of you.
I also want to thank Secretary Sebelius and
Commissioner Hamburg for their outstanding
leadership as well as your entire teams.
It takes a whole lot of people
to get all of this done.
And we are grateful for you all, your leadership
and for their efforts.
Thank you so much for being here today.
(applause)
And we are also joined by one of my dear friends and
a fabulous advocate, Rachael Ray.
Rachael, where -- Rachael!
There you are.
(applause)
Rachael Ray, who has done so much great
work for Let's Move.
Yes!
Thank you, Rachael.
We're going to do something
fun shortly, you ready?
>> Rachael Ray: Ready.
>> The First Lady: All right, I'll wear my flat
shoes for you.
(laughter)
And of course, I want to thank all of you
-- the parents, the advocates, the industry
leaders who worked so hard to make this day possible.
Congratulations.
This is a good day, it's a great announcement.
And back when we first launched Let's Move four
years ago, all of us here today were driven
by a simple belief: that parents deserve to have
the information they need to make healthy choices
for their kids.
And this isn't a particularly radical idea;
in fact, it seems pretty obvious.
But the truth is that too often, it's nearly
impossible to get the most basic facts
about the food we buy for our families.
For example, how many of you have at some point
in your life made a statement that
you were going to eat better?
Maybe you wanted to lose a little weight,
maybe you wanted to improve your family's nutrition,
maybe there were health issues in your family that
required you to watch what you ate.
Whatever the reason, you resolved to read those
labels and only buy foods that you believed would be
good for you and your kids.
So you marched into the supermarket, you picked
up a can or a box of something, you squinted
at that little tiny label,
and you were totally and utterly lost.
So there you stood, alone in some aisle in a store,
the clock ticking away at the precious little time
remaining to complete your weekly grocery shopping,
and all you could do was scratch your head,
confused and bewildered, and wonder, is there
too much sugar in this product?
Is 50 percent of the daily allowance of riboflavin
a good thing or a bad thing?
And how on Earth could this teeny little package
contain five whole servings?
This stream of questions and worries running
through your head when all you really wanted to know
was, should I be eating this or not?
Is this good for my kids or not?
And if it is healthy, how much of it should
I be eating?
But unless you had a thesaurus, a calculator,
a microscope, or a degree in nutrition,
you were out of luck.
So you felt defeated, and you just gave up and went
back to buying the same stuff you always buy.
And that's a familiar scenario for far too many
families and parents trying to do the right
thing for their kids
-- and it's simply not acceptable.
As consumers and as parents, we have a right
to understand what's in the food we're
feeding our families.
Because that's really the only way that we can make
informed choices -- by having clear,
accurate information.
And ultimately, that's what
today's announcement is all about.
As you've heard, today, for the first time since
the nutrition label was developed two decades ago,
we're overhauling these labels to make them easier
to read and understand.
And this is a major undertaking involving
folks from across the country, from the FDA
to the food industry to advocates throughout
communities in this country.
Because a lot has changed in the past twenty years.
Just consider all the new information we've learned
about nutrition and healthy eating during
that time period.
Not to mention, this label appears
on roughly 700,000 products.
But in the end, our guiding principle here
is simple: that you as a parent and a consumer
should be able to walk into a grocery store,
pick an item off the shelf, and tell whether
it's good for your family.
To achieve this goal, in the coming months,
the FDA will be soliciting comments from the public
on the two possible options
that you see behind me.
Now, I know there will be many opinions on what this
label should look like, but I think that we all
can agree that families deserve more and better
information about the food they eat.
And it's important to note that no matter what the
final version looks like, the new label will allow
you to immediately spot the calorie count because
it will be in large font, and not buried
in the fine print.
You'll also learn more about where the sugar
in the food comes from -- like whether
the sugar in your yogurt was added during processing
or whether it comes from ingredients like fruits.
This is what you will get from
the label of the future.
This will be the new norm in providing consumers
with information about the food we buy and eat.
So this is a huge deal, which
is why everybody is here.
(laughter)
And it's going to make a big difference
for families across this country.
So today, I want to end as I started by truly
thanking the FDA and everyone else involved
in this important effort.
I am excited to see all the comments that come
in over the coming months.
And I look forward to celebrating the final
label, and then ultimately seeing it on grocery
shelves across the country in the years to come.
So congratulations, you all.
Great work.
Let's keep pushing.
There is more to do.
As Secretary Sebelius said, we are starting
to see some change.
We are nowhere near the end of this road,
but with every little bit that we do we make
a huge difference.
So congratulations once again,
and keep up the great work.
Thank you so much.
(applause)