What Should Consumers Know about the Foods they are Consuming?

Consumers are becoming more and more interested in knowing not only what is in the foods they are purchasing and consuming, but also how they were produced. One way to help consumers to understand this is by providing labels on the food items which are easy to interpret and also list all ingredients in the foods.

Today, however, many consumers are asking for more information about these ingredients, including how they were produced and whether they are organic or were produced by genetically modified organisms (GMO or GM).

The food labels are supposed to be disclosing and guiding the consumer about the ingredients and nutritional values of food. The food labeling policies have been evolving and have become more complex since 1892 when President Lincoln founded the two main Federal Departments involved in food labeling, namely the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Bureau of Chemistry which later became the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the two Federal agencies responsible for food label policy and food safety

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