What is the federal Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA)?
NLEA, enacted by Congress in 1990, provides consumers with nutrition information on packaged foods and beverages. It requires food manufacturers to disclose fat (saturated and unsaturated), trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugar, protein, as well as calories in their products to allow consumers to make more informed decisions about the food they eat. In 2006, the FDA required manufacturers to list trans fatty acids, or trans fat, on the Nutrition Facts panel of conventional foods and some dietary supplements. Trans fat disclosure is not expressly required by the legislation CRNI supports, but would presumably be covered by the regulations implementing the law, as was done in NLEA for food manufacturers.
