US Olive Oil Producers Oppose Proposed FDA Labeling

Olive oil industry participants are opposing a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to place nutrition facts on the front of packaging.

The FDA, which announced the proposed rule in January, said the label would take the form of a nutrition facts box that would provide consumers with “easy-to-read information about a product’s content of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars — three nutrients that have been linked to chronic disease when consumed in excess.”

The nutrition facts box would be divided into three columns that would list the nutrient, the percentage of the daily value, and whether that value is low, medium, or high.

A food is defined as “low” in a given nutrient meaning it contains less than five percent of the daily value. “Medium” foods will contain between six and 19 percent of the daily value of the nutrient, while foods with more than 20 percent of the daily value will be labeled “high.” Olive oil, which contains about ten percent of the daily value of saturated fat per serving, falls into the medium category, as do popular ultra-processed snack brands like Doritos and Pringles. Meanwhile, other ultra-processed foods, including Oreos and Funyuns, are rated “low” in saturated fat.

Tags: USA, olive oil