佛蒙特州法学院农业和食品系统中心（CAFS）最近推出了标签未包装网站可以帮助美国的消费者更好地了解食品包装的标签。
The website helps readers learn about nutrient content claims, government and third-party regulation and certification, and expiry dates. In the Explore Labels section, users can practice reading food labels, a skill they can apply in the grocery store. By hovering their cursor over the interactive labels, they can reveal more information about the explanations behind various marketing claims.
另一条标签101提供了有关食品标签法规的信息。CAFS主任兼法学教授Laurie Beyranevand说，本节可能对中小型食品生产商和食品法律专业的学生有用，他们正在寻求对该行业过度复杂的法律法规的细分。
政府机构在内U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) provide resources about food labels, but Beyranevand says these are often intended for producers. And because the pages contain technical jargon, consumers may not always understand what they read. Beyranevand hopes that this new website can help make information more accessible and increase label literacy.
A最近的研究发表在Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviorfinds that 89 percent of respondents believed they understood the meaning of best by labels, but just 24 percent correctly identified the specific meaning. Additionally, only 22 percent of respondents were aware that terms including “best if used by” and “best by” are not federally regulated on all foods.
该研究的合着者兼约翰·霍普金斯大学彭博公共卫生中心的教授罗尼·内夫（Roni Neff）博士说，消费者希望更多有关其食物的信息。“我认为我们的粮食供应存在真正的信任问题。访问信息并澄清这些事情的意义真的很重要。” Neff告诉食品坦克。w88优德老虎机平台
Beyranevand告诉Food w88优德老虎机平台Tank，该网站的灵感来自2015年的学生。在食品标签的一个单位，她的法学院班级对食品标签法的复杂性表示惊讶。
Beyranevand告诉Food Tank：“几乎每年，一个学生都会说，一所法学院的班级才能理解他们一直在食品标签上看到的共同陈述的含义感到多么惊讶。”w88优德老虎机平台“他们也惊讶地发现，某些标签是由政府以某种方式监管或监督的，而另一些则不是。我们认为，为什么不创建一个网站以使感兴趣的人都能访问该信息？”
While Labels Unwrapped is intended to fill an important gap, Beyranevand tells Food Tank that policy also has an important role to play. She argues that policymakers and regulators must prioritize accessibility and comprehensibility when developing laws around food labels. A new bill, the食品标签现代化法，目的是这样做。
该法提出了对食品标签的重大更改没有定义。根据Beyranevand和Neff的说法，标准化将使食品标签教育更加有效和准确。
“When [labels are] not universal, we can’t go out and do education and tell consumers this is what that label means…It’s impossible to get rid of the confusion if we don’t have some kind of consistent federal standard,” Neff tells Food Tank.
Neff also explains that there is a need for consistency among date labels on food. Such changes would help consumers understand when food is simply no longer at its peak quality versus when it is no longer safe to consume. According to research from ReFED, a nonprofit organization working to end food waste, standardizing date labels is one of the most具有成本效益的解决方案for reducing food waste nationally.
Beyranevard和Neff都表示，食品标签教育必须早早开始并变得统一。Beyranevard解释说，美国在学校没有强制性食品和营养计划，这也必须改变。Beyranevard告诉食品坦克：w88优德老虎机平台“教育必须与法规共存。”
