Food for thought
Food labels appear mundane enough, but the tug of war playing out behind them about what’s on them is anything but. “Think of a food label as a battleground,” said Michael Jacobson, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The food industry wants it [to be] as tempting as possible, and consumers want information” to help them make informed decisions. Jacobson, who coined the term “junk food,” described the battle over labeling on Friday during the first of the two-day “Forum on Food Labeling: Putting the Label on the Table,” presented by the Harvard Food Law Society. His presentation was followed by an hourlong panel discussion featuring representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), food industry giant Coca-Cola, and a public policy advocate. During his remarks, Jacobson showed the audience in Austin Hall slides of several products that he said had made misleading label...