New TRUTH in Labeling Act Mandates 'High In' Warnings on Front of All Food Packages

If you’ve ever stood in the grocery aisle trying to decipher the microscopic print on a nutrition label while your kid is having a meltdown, this new piece of legislation is for you. The Transparency, Readability, Understandability, Truth, and Helpfulness in Labeling Act—or the TRUTH in Labeling Act—is designed to cut through the noise and put crucial nutrition information right where you can see it.

The Front-of-Package Revolution

This bill mandates a sweeping change to how food is labeled in the U.S. Essentially, it requires food manufacturers to slap a clear, standardized label on the front of the package if the product is “High in” added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat (SEC. 3). If your favorite snack hits high marks in all three categories, you’ll see three separate warnings on the main display panel, each accompanied by a noticeable exclamation point icon. This is a big deal because, as Congress noted, the standard nutrition facts panel often gets ignored, especially by busy shoppers or those who aren't nutrition experts (SEC. 2. Findings). The goal is to make healthy choices as quick as grabbing the right color traffic light.

The Sweetener Switch-Up

One of the sharpest parts of this bill targets the industry’s favorite loophole: replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners. The bill specifically requires that if a food contains non-nutritive sweeteners, the label must state that fact right on the front (SEC. 3). Even more critically, for foods marketed toward infants (under 12 months) or young children (ages 1 to 3), the label must include a factual warning that these sweeteners aren’t recommended for kids. This directly addresses the finding that when companies have to disclose artificial sweeteners alongside sugar warnings, they tend to reformulate their products to cut back on all the bad stuff, not just the sugar (SEC. 2. Findings).

What This Means for Your Grocery Cart

For the consumer, this is about getting honest information instantly. Imagine you’re comparing two boxes of cereal: currently, you have to flip them over and compare grams of sugar. Under this Act, if one box is flagged “High in Added Sugars!” and the other isn’t, the choice becomes dramatically simpler. This change is particularly aimed at helping people who are juggling rising costs and health risks, providing an easy tool to manage chronic conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, which are often linked to overconsumption of these ingredients (SEC. 2. Findings).

The Administrative Clock is Ticking

To make this happen, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has a tight 180-day deadline to finalize the rules outlining exactly what constitutes “High in” for adults, and specifically for children and infants (SEC. 3). This includes setting the Daily Reference Values for added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat for infants and toddlers based on the latest dietary guidelines. While the 180-day clock is running, the Secretary has the flexibility to update existing rules around “low sodium” claims to align with current nutrition science, potentially lowering the threshold to 115 milligrams, keeping the standards current and rigorous (SEC. 3). While the administrative timeline is clear, the exact thresholds will ultimately be set by the Secretary, which is where the industry and public health groups will be watching closely.