MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - Not all products have switched over just yet, but manufacturers have until 2018 to officially make the changes.
The labels currently at the grocery store are over 20-years-old and over the next year, the Federal Drug Administration will be rolling out revamped nutrition labels.
It's a change that was long over due and some manufacturers have already started to make them.
"Just turn a package over and starting paying attention to it a little bit," Denessa Leary, Health and Wellness Coordinator at the Midland YMCA said.
The new labels will display calorie counts in a larger font and serving sizes will be more defined and realistic which will better reflect the amount of food a person actually eats.
Some things will also be displayed in bold.
"They're hoping that it draws more attention to what people are eating what they are paying attention to and like I said the things that are standing out," Leary said. "What people should be paying attention to, what they should have and what we kinda just disregarded and let things go to the side."
The changes comes from the FDA to help you pay attention to the food you consume.
"There's a lot of obese Americans right now and the way we read them and going into the serving sizes and everything like that and how and what we look at what we read a food label and that's just changed drastically," Leary said.
Many people may still don't know how to read a food label, but hopefully these new changes help you pay more attention to make healthier decisions.
The nutrition facts the new label provides will help you make better informed choices about the food you choose to purchase and consume.
For those who are trying to keep their waistline down for the summer, the best thing to remember when looking at food labels is serving size, calories in a serving and daily values.
