The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, announced its support of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) Nutrition Keys voluntary front-of-pack labeling initiative.
The GMA-FMI Nutrition Keys initiative provides nutrition information on the front of food and beverage packages, including calories and three nutrients to limit, such as saturated fat, sodium and sugar, GMA said. The keys summarize important nutrition information from the nutrition facts panel in a clear, simple and easy-to-use format on the front of food and beverage packages.
The program provides options for labeling depending on the size of a product’s packaging. The labels can vary from several keys for a large package to one icon representing the calories in each serving for a small package. Labels also can incorporate “nutrients to encourage,” such as potassium, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals, as long as the product contains more than 10 percent of the daily value in each serving, GMA said.
The GMA-FMI program is complementary to the Clear on Calories commitment established by the American Beverage Association (ABA). The ABA’s commitment puts calorie information about beverages on the front of product labels, vending machines or fountain machines to be more accessible to consumers.
Coca-Cola is a member of both the GMA and ABA and supports both calorie-count initiatives. The company said, in a statement, “the only way to address tough issues like obesity and energy balance is for industry, government and civil society to come together to create workable solutions.”
The company heralded the GMA-FMI’s Nutrition Keys program as part of a continually growing effort in the United States to contribute meaningful, fact-based solutions that address the problem of obesity in America. Front-of-pack labeling will provide consumers with access to nutrition information about their favorite foods and beverages across a broad array of offerings, the company says.
