Congress Passes Bill to Expand Food Labels

Congress approved legislation Friday to give consumers more nutritional information about the foods they purchase, sending the bill to President Bush.

The House approved the bill setting specific standards for nutrition labels and requiring them to be on packaged foods.

The legislation, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, also mandates that bulk food in bins, raw fish and fruits and vegetables be displayed with a sign or brochure providing nutritional information.

Food sold by restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and grocers with annual sales of less than $500,000 is exempt.

Labels would be required to display:

--Serving size.

--Number of servings per container.

--Calories per serving and number of caloriers from fat.

--Amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, protein.

The measure requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish draft regulations 12 months after enactment, and final regulation six months later.