Should Snacks Have Warning Labels?

Around the world, versions of your favorite snacks often come with warnings about their ingredients. In Mexico, a can of Coke has a stop sign that warns of high levels of sugar. In Israel, a bag of Cheetos cautions about high levels of sodium, a mineral found in salt. In Chile, a package of Oreos points out high levels of sugar, saturated fat, and sodium.

Last year, lawmakers in Congress proposed a bill to add similar warning labels in the United States. They want to add labels to all “food and beverages with unacceptably high levels of sugar, salt, and saturated fat.” The goal is to discourage people from consuming ultra-processed foods and drinks.

^{SOURCE: JAMA, 2021}

Such foods and drinks typically contain artificial ingredients that improve flavor and make people crave them. But ultra-processed foods have few nutrients. They’re often called junk food—think chips, cookies, candy, sodas, and sugary cereals.

A study published in 2021 found that ultra-processed foods make up 67 percent of American kids’ and teens’ diets. Lawmakers say that is a problem because research has shown that consuming too much of those foods can lead to serious health problems.

But not everyone agrees that adding warning labels to foods and drinks is the right response. Many people say such a move is too extreme because those products are fine to eat in moderation. 

What do you think? Read on, then decide for yourself.

^{SOURCE: Global Food Research Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill}

Kat Morgan is a researcher who studies food and the effects of warning labels. She says clear warnings on the front of packaging make it easier for consumers to tell whether a product should be eaten in moderation. “The labels are very simple and help people see when a food is loaded with too much sugar, salt, and fat,” Morgan explains.

Those labels may also have another positive effect, she points out, by encouraging companies to reduce the sugar, sodium, and saturated fat in their products. “They may change the composition of their foods to be healthier or less harmful,” Morgan says.

In Chile, food warning labels were introduced in 2016. Within two years, companies had reformulated about 20 percent of food products sold in the country in part to avoid having black stop sign labels on their packaging.

Not all health professionals are convinced that warning labels are the best way to get people to eat more nutritional foods. One reason? It hasn’t been proved that the labels make people change their behaviors, some experts say. A 2023 study published in the journal BMC Nutrition found that children in Chile chose to keep consuming the warning-label products they enjoyed the most, such as sugary soft drinks, even though they recognized that those products were unhealthy.

^{SOURCE: The Nutrition Source}

Critics of warning labels also argue that the messaging is overly simplistic. Such labels could send the message that certain foods and drinks are “bad,” which can make people feel guilty or ashamed about eating them, they say. But nutrition experts say it’s OK for people to eat sweet or salty treats sometimes, as long as those items are part of a well-balanced diet.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking the types of foods that might have warning labels on them,” says Therese Bridges. She’s a registered dietitian who focuses on helping teens and young adults develop healthy eating habits.

Besides, warning labels alone won’t actually teach people about nutrition, Bridges says. To encourage people to make healthy food decisions, she explains, it would be more effective to teach them about how to have a balanced diet. “When we’re told ‘No, you can’t eat that,’ it doesn’t actually tell us about all the options we can eat,” she says.