2 ms·

> Mr. Belser’s nutrition facts label — rendered in bold and light Helvetica type — was celebrated as a triumph of public health and graphic design when it debut

by js2 3y ago

> Mr. Belser’s nutrition facts label — rendered in bold and light Helvetica type — was celebrated as a triumph of public health and graphic design when it debuted in 1994 following passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. Wait, what? 1994? If you asked me when this label appeared, I would have answered: it's been there as long as I've been alive. I would have guessed it was added sometime in the 60s. I'm nearly 52. I have no memory of food products not always having had this label. Crazy.

jquast 3y ago
They did have nutrition labels, but they were voluntary, so you maybe did see "nutrition facts" of some kind, but they could have had any appearance or title and could make any claim deemed "truthful". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209859/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209859/ > Every manufacturer should be encouraged to provide truthful nutritional information about his products to enable consumers to follow recommended dietary regimens. (WHC, 1970) > Food manufacturers were eager to respond to the consumer interest and did so in a variety of ways, often through the use of an assortment of new, undefined claims on product labels that attempted to state or imply something about the special value of the food, such as “extremely low in saturated fat,” This article contains an image of a 1987 bran flakes label, which shows calories, proteins, fat, cholesterol, vitamin content, ingredients etc., mostly the same content but without the styling of Mr. Belser's nutritional facts label https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/02/25/282628088/nutrition-labels-to-get-long-overdue-tweaks https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/02/25/282628088/nu...