Nutrition Labels Are Ready for Their Close-Up

I recently treated myself to some ice cream. And no, it wasn’t ordinary ice cream — when I treat myself I want the good stuff. It was premium ice cream, and it was rich, decadent, and delicious — just what I wanted. I ate it right out of the carton, and by the time I had my fill, I realized that I had spooned up almost half of it. I squinted at the nutrition label, wondering how many calories I had just consumed. The number 320 caught my eye. OK, I thought, I can handle that. Then I squinted harder to read the small print, and I was shocked to see that there were four servings in my tiny ice cream carton. A quarter of the container? That’s only half a cup. Who the heck only eats half a cup of ice cream?

Now for the good news: The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that the nutrition labels that we’ve struggled to decipher for the last 20 years are getting a makeover. The serving size and calorie count will be big and bold — and impossible to ignore. There are other changes, too: The sugar info will show how much sugar has been added and how much is naturally occurring. It’s all part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s effort to battle obesity and poor nutrition. Here are the proposed changes (the current label is on the left, and the new is on the right).

So what do you think? Is there anything else you would like to see changed?