“Referred to as the ‘Nutrition Info box’, the new label proposal would provide accessible, at-a-glance information about saturated fat, sodium and added sugar. That would then be accompanied by the existing Nutrition Facts label elsewhere on the package. Current federal dietary recommendations advise US consumers to limit these three nutrients. These would be rated as ‘low’, ‘med’, or ‘high’. Calories, however, would not be included in the Nutrition Info box: although a manufacturer could declare these voluntarily on the front of package, per existing FDA regulations…
One ramification of including added sugar in the box could be an increased reliance on non-nutritive sweeteners so that products can claim to be low or medium in added sugars.
“The Sugar Association supports transparency, but this draft label offers only the illusion of transparency – it entirely leaves out total calories and the use of industrial additives like artificial sweeteners,” said Sugar Association President and CEO Courtney Gaine, PhD, RD.
“In fact, by singling out added sugars, FDA is once again knowingly incentivizing proliferation of artificial sweeteners that hide behind chemical names Americans do not recognize – including in food for children.
“We support the goal of limiting added sugars to less than 10% of total calories, but this should not be achieved by misleading consumers or manipulating the food supply with more additives. Most Americans prefer to avoid low- and no-calorie sweeteners in food, and health organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about their widespread use.”
Read the full article here: https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2025/01/16/fda-unveils-proposed-front-of-package-nutrition-labels/
March 22, 2026
"The Feeding the Economy report affirms the vital role food and agriculture play in our nation’s economic resilience and food security. Commercial bakers have long been proud partners to American agriculture, sourcing 85 percent of their core ingredients from domestic farmers....Sponsoring organizations from the food and agriculture industries, who helped make the 2026 study possible, provided commentary on this year’s findings. The full list of sponsoring organizations includes: ...The Sugar Association"
March 10, 2026
"Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, a scientific body that supports the U.S. sugar industry, told the USDA Outlook Forum that the school meal standards taking effect next year might prohibit added sugars in kindergarten meals and could significantly restrict them in other grades. That change alone would cut sugar demand by over 130,000 short tons. The industry faces additional pressure from rising GLP-1 weight-loss drug usage, which jumped from 12% in May 2024 to 18% in November 2025, though Gaine cautioned it remains "premature to assess the impact."
March 3, 2026
"Gaine added, "There is no data to support all this." She said the focus on added sugar is often politically motivated, but food groups have not pushed back on the MAHA pressure. There is a lot of fear of retaliation, and for good reason they have not wanted to push back publicly," Gaine said. "I think it’s going to demand a coordinated, really coordinated, pushing back. Any effort up (until) now has been to go along to get along, and I don’t know if that’s going to work."
© 2026 The Sugar Association, Inc. All rights reserved.
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