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Could Food Labels Offering Exercise Advice be the Next Big Thing?

Headlines from the U.K. sound promising but reading deeper reveals very little benefit for contemplating such a major change for food manufacturers.

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“Exercise advice on food labels could help reduce obesity, researchers say.”  That was the headline on CNN back on December 11.

Wow!  Great idea.  Telling a consumer, “you will have to walk for 40 minutes to burn off this snack,” sounds really interesting.  My initial reaction was, “this might make me skip the candy.”

Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent (PACE) labels, according to the article, “could, on average, cut calorie consumption by up to 200 calories per person per day, according to researchers, whose work is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.”

According to the article, current labels with existing calorie and nutrition information in the U.K. have not contributed to fighting obesity. 

From CNN: “The team looked at data from 14 studies that examined the effectiveness of PACE labeling in reducing calorie consumption.  They found that PACE labeling is more effective than no labeling, but was no more effective than calorie-only labeling.

Wait a minute.  PACE labeling more effective than no label, but no more effective than current calorie labels?  Where exactly is the benefit? 

The article goes on to say that no new labels would be needed, PACE information could be added to existing labels.

Researchers did caution that the number of studies was small, and most took place in controlled environments rather than in “real-world” settings.   But researchers still conclude that PACE labeling is worth trying.

Needless to say, “worth trying” means months of regulatory compliance meetings, legal approvals, artwork changes. Let alone accurate exercise descriptions and duration (vigorous walking for 40 minutes?  A slow stroll?   Running fast?  Jogging?  A 20-year-old versus a senior citizen?)

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