The History of the Nutrition Facts Label

Unsung History

If you go to a grocery store in the United States and pick up a box of cereal, you expect to find a white box on the back of the package with information in Helvetica Black about the food’s macronutrients (things like fat and protein) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). The Nutrition Facts label is so ubiquitous that you may not even notice it. But how did it get there and why does it look the way it does? The history of that label is our story this week.

Joining me to discuss the history of food labeling in the United States is Dr. Xaq Frohlich, Associate Professor of History of Technology in the Department of History at Auburn University, and author of From Label to Table: Regulating Food in America in the Information Age.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Oh, you candy kid,” composed by John L. Golden, with lyrics by Bob Adams, and performed by Ada Jones in 1909; the audio is in the public domain and available via the Library of Congress’s National Jukebox. The episode image is “FDA Label Man,” an ad produced by the FDA for the nutritional label; the image is in the public domain as a United States government work and is available via the FDA Flickr.

Additional Sources:

• “Milestones in U.S. Food and Drug Law,” U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
• “Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906: Topics in Chronicling America,” Lobrary of Congress Research Guides.
• “The Pure Food and Drug Act,” History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives.
• “The American Chamber of Horrors [video],” U.S. Food & Drug Administration YouTube Channel, June 29, 2018.
• “The Accidental Poison That Founded the Modern FDA,” by Julian G. West, The Atlantic, January 16, 2018.
• “F. D. A. Proposes Sweeping Change in Food Labeling,” by Richard D. Lyons, The New York Times, January 18, 1973.
• “H.R.3562 - Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990,” Congress.gov.
• “How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label,” U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
• “The FDA wants to change what counts as ‘healthy’ food. Big food makers say that's unfair.” by Irina Ivanova, CBS Moneywatch, February 27, 2023.
• “FDA to test new package labels that could change how consumers make food choices,” by Madeline Holcombe, CNN Health, June 21, 2023.
• “The FDA is attempting to ban partially hydrogenated oils for good. But what in the world are they?” by Joy Saha, Salon.com, August 16, 2023.
• “Burkey Belser, designer of ubiquitous nutrition facts label, dies at 76,” by Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, September 25, 2023.

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