Nutrition labels, round 2.

Where would we be without them?

Since 1994, the Nutrition Facts panels on almost all food packages have been invaluable to people who are watching their saturated fat, sodium, calories, fiber, and other nutrients. Those labels have become such a fixture that many young people probably assume that they have always been there.

But I suspect that millions of consumers are confused by the Nutrition Facts panels' numbers and terms. (Quick. What's a Daily Value?)

Two decades ago, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (the nonprofit publisher of Nutrition Action) urged the Food and Drug Administration to require a "nutrition square" on the front of every packaged food. It would have used colored quadrants to tell shoppers whether the food was high (red), low (green), or in-between (yellow) in nutrients like saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar. The FDA didn't buy it.

Now a number of organizations and companies have created their own symbols. The American Heart Association, for example, allows a "heart-check" on Trix, but its criteria ignore the cereal's high sugar content.

And PepsiCo's Smart Selections Made Easy and Kraft's Sensible Solution symbols are supposed to point shoppers to healthier foods. Yet Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Spirals are a Sensible Solution even though a serving delivers more than a third of a day's worth of sodium for people middle-aged and older.

Several supermarket chains have their own programs. In New England, for example, Hannaford Brothers has shelf markers with one, two, or three stars to point consumers toward the most nutritious foods.

Unfortunately, standards that vary from one company or chain to the next may actually add to the marketplace confusion. Is there a better way? You bet.

* Britain has developed a traffic-light system to show how much fat, saturated fat, sugars, and salt a food contains. (Food companies--which aren't thrilled about having to slap red dots on their packages of hot dogs and other less-than-stellar products--have kept the government from making the system mandatory.)

* Sweden allows companies to use a green keyhole-shaped "good food" symbol on foods that meet its criteria. One major supermarket chain there reports hefty sales increases for products that bear the keyhole.

It's time that the United States had one simple, uniform symbol to help consumers find the healthiest--and avoid the least-healthy--foods.

That's why we've petitioned the FDA to create a front-of-the-box, at-a-glance system to add to the Nutrition Facts panel (see cspinet .org/new/pdf/healthy_symbol_petition.pdf).

If you agree, please mail our coupon to the FDA. Thank you.

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Center for Science in the Public Interest