Comparison of canned carrot juice with cheeseburger (large patty; with condiments, vegetables and mayonnaise) based on the FDA Nutrition Facts label and the proposed Nutrition Facts label

The proposed Nutrition Facts label provides three numeric scores from 0 to 100 to show the nutritional quality of each food from the three aspects of negative nutrients (to limit intake of any negative nutrient), positive nutrients (to achieve adequate intake of any positive nutrient), and a combination of positive and negative nutrients (to achieve adequate intake of any positive nutrient and to limit intake of any negative nutrient). A higher score is preferred to a lower score. According to the proposed Nutrition Facts label, the nutritional quality score based on negative nutrients, the nutritional quality score based on positive nutrients, and the nutritional quality score based on the combination of positive and negative nutrients for canned carrot juice are higher than those scores for cheeseburger. So, according to the proposed Nutrition Facts label, canned carrot juice is a better food choice than the cheeseburger. The FDA Nutrition Facts label cannot help consumers choose between these two foods due to the lack of nutritional quality scores or symbols. Canned carrot juice is not low in energy (calories) based on the FDA regulations. Consuming 20 servings of canned carrot juice results in receiving 96% of the Daily Value (DV) for energy. So, canned carrot juice is low in energy (calories) based on the proposed Nutrition Facts label. Cheeseburger is a source (good source) of vitamin A, calcium, choline, manganese, copper, and phosphorus and high (excellent source) in vitamin B₆, vitamin K, iron, thiamin, pantothenic acid, folate, riboflavin, and zinc based on the FDA regulations. However, consuming cheeseburger as much as the DV for energy (based on the reference energy intake of 2,000 calories) results in receiving 41.5% of the DV for vitamin A, 41.9% of the DV for calcium, 49.9% of the DV for choline, 60.4% of the DV for manganese, 67.2% of the DV for copper, 74.6% of the DV for phosphorus, 81.7% of the DV for vitamin B₆, 88.3% of the DV for vitamin K, and 95.5% of the DV for iron. So, cheeseburger is unsuitable for achieving the DVs for vitamin A, calcium, choline, manganese, copper, phosphorus, vitamin B₆, vitamin K, and iron based on the proposed Nutrition Facts label. Also, consuming cheeseburger as much as half the DV for energy (1,000 calories) does not result in receiving the DVs for thiamin, pantothenic acid, folate, riboflavin, and zinc, but consuming cheeseburger as much as the DV for energy (2,000 calories) results in receiving the DVs for these five positive nutrients. Thus, according to the proposed Nutrition Facts label, cheeseburger is not high in thiamin, pantothenic acid, folate, riboflavin, and zinc, but it is a source of these five positive nutrients.

Suggested citation: Forouzesh, Abed; Forouzesh, Fatemeh; Samadi Foroushani, Sadegh; Forouzesh, Abolfazl. Nutrition labels of foods: friends or foes in public health? Critical vulnerabilities of U.S. FDA Nutrition Facts label and invention of a reliable Nutrition Facts label. Food Production, Processing and Nutrition 2025;7:28. DOI: 10.1186/s43014-025-00306-3