The purpose of nutrition labelling regulations is to inform the consumer of the nutritional properties of a food item and includes two components: nutritional declaration and supplementary information. The Federal and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible to ensure that foods sold in the United states, whether produced domestically or from foreign countries are safe, consumable and appropriately labelled. Although regulations are standardized and established, these may change over time. It is the responsibility of for the food industry to stay abreast with the legal food labelling regulations. All regulations are published in Federal register and complied annually in 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (www.fda.gov).
As per the regulations, three kinds of information are labelled on food items: (www.hc-sc.gc.ca, StudyMode.com)
- Nutrition Facts table: The Nutrition Facts table is mandatory on prepackaged foods with certain exemptions. The Nutrition Facts table provides information in grams, percentages of daily value, and calories on the following nutrients: Saturated and unsaturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein, fiber, cholesterol, sodium, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
- Nutrient content claims: These are specific claims about the content of certain nutrients. For e.g., ‘low fat’ or ‘good source of calcium’.
- Diet-related health claims: These claims are for certain foods which implicate their suitability in certain diseases of health related conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, certain types of cancer, and osteoporosis.
Digestive Disorders
Gastroesophaeal Reflux (GERD) is a digestive disorder which relaxes a muscle ring between the esophagus and stomach called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). In GERD, LED is relaxed or weak, causing a reflux of the food contents from the stomach into the esophagus. Lifestyle and dietary changes may affect the LES, causing GERD (WebMD: Better information. Better health). Hormonal changes in obesity and pregnancy have shown to contribute to symptoms of GERD. Treatment for GERD includes use of antacids, histamine-2 receptor antagonists (Hershcovici, 258).
Peptic Ulcers, caused by Helicobacter pylori, is a common digestive disorder in America. This is a condition in which the mucous lining of the stomach and intestine become sore due to ulcers. Other causes may include smoking, which increases the acidity in the stomach and overdose of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Infection is usually treated with antibiotic treatment. Surgery is performed if the ulcers worsen in condition.
Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea are some of the common symptoms. Besides genetic factors, many environmental factors such as lifestyle and infectious agents such as bacteria have been studied to be responsible as causative agents for this disorder (Baumgart, 1590). Treatment for treating this disease includes the use of steroids, anti-inflammatory disorders and antibiotics.
Lactose intolerance
About 30 to 50 million Americans suffer from the problem of Lactose intolerance, which is caused due to a deficiency in an enzyme lactase, which digests milk (U.S. News Staff). Symptoms include bloating, nausea, gas, diarrhea, which occur, usually within minutes or hours of consuming milk or dairy products. Over the counter pills containing lactase, use of lactose free substitutes may be treatment or alternative solutions for countering this digestive problem.
References
“Food Labelling Guide”. www.fda.gov.01.2013http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006828.htm
"Major aspects of nutrition labeling regulations". StudyMode.com. 02 2013. 2013. 02 2013 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Major-Aspects-Of-Nutrition-Labeling-Regulations-1446246.html>.
“Nutrition Labelling”. Health Canada. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/nutrition/index-eng.php
“Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)”. WebMD: Better information. Better health, . N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/reflux-disease-gerd-1>.
Hershcovici, T and Fass, R. "Pharmacological management of GERD: where does it stand now?” Trends in pharmacological sciences 32 (4) (April 2011): 258–64. Print
Baumgart, D. C; Sandborn, W. J "Crohn's disease". The Lancet 380 (9853) (2012): 1590–605. Print
“8 Common Digestive Problems and How to End Them”. U.S. News Staff, . N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2014. <http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/09/06/8-common-digestive-problems-and-how-to-end-them>.
