Will FDA Require an Ineffective Front-of-Pack Label for Food?

FDA and the MAHA Commission seem to be making health labels for food and beverage products a priority. But it looks like the front-of-pack label in the current proposal is relatively ineffective. At least that’s what we’re seeing in a new randomized controlled study by Anna Grummon et al in JAMA Network Open. It was published on Friday.

Their paper offers a clear, if sobering, message about the relative effects of different labeling schemes – including the current scheme proposed by FDA.

Six Different Labeling Schemes

The study recruited 5,636 U.S. adults (household primary shoppers) to shop in a realistic online grocery store with products that have front-of-pack labels. The randomization assigned people to shop in a store that used one of six labeling schemes:

• Positive (like voluntary labels some grocers use)

♦ Nutrition Info (like the FDA proposal)

• High In (a variation on the FDA proposal)

♦ Positive + Nutrition Info labels

• Positive + High In

♦ Spectrum  (rating foods from poor to best healthfulness)

The primary outcome was the healthfulness of selections people made in each of the labeling conditions. The measure for healthfulness was the UK Ofcom Nutrient Profiling Model. The authors concluded:

“Spectrum labels that rate foods from least to most healthy led to healthier purchases than positive labels and Nutrition Info labels similar to those proposed by the FDA. These findings suggest that spectrum labels may be more promising than both existing positive labels and the FDA’s proposed labels for promoting healthier food purchases.”

In short, the proposed FDA front-of-pack label design may not move the needle compared to what grocers are already doing. They overload consumers with information rather than give them a simple rating.

Is MAHA Listening?

This is timely because the MAHA Commission has explicitly flagged front-of-pack labeling as a key strategy. The Commission’s September 2025 strategy report instructs the FDA to consider revisions to the current proposal and positions a final rule on front-of-pack labeling as a priority.

These findings matter because they tell us that label design matters — and that regulators should think carefully before they require an ineffective front-of-pack label for food and beverages. These labels are only as good as a consumer’s ability to use it.

Click here for the study and here, here, and here for further perspective

Front-of-Pack Labels, examples tested and published by Anna Grummon et al in JAMA Network Open, and licensed under CC BY 4.0

Subscribe by email to follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health, obesity, and policy.

October 19, 2025