Consumer confusion, perhaps. But declaring added sugars on Nutrition Facts panels will be required by July 2018. Here are ways to cut down on sugar declarations without sacrificing sweetness.
When Stonyfield, America’s leading organic yogurt manufacturer, announced a comprehensive plan to reduce added sugars across its product line by 25% before this autumn’s end, Nichole Cirillo, the Londonderry-N.H. company’s mission director, stated in a press release that the mission is “to continually provide healthier food both for our consumers and the planet.”
Left unmentioned was the Food and Drug Administration’s impending mandate that an “added sugars” line appear on Nutrition Facts panels. Still, it would be hard to imagine that the coming label change didn’t shape the company’s decision — for if consumer experts are right, once the declarations start appearing en masse, shoppers will be breaking out their magnifying glasses to sleuth out added-sugar excess wherever it lurks. Or not.