II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3512 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to strengthen 

requirements related to nutrient information on food labels. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. 

MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

strengthen requirements related to nutrient information 

on food labels. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency, Read5 ability, Understandability, Truth, and Helpfulness in La6 beling Act’’ or the ‘‘TRUTH in Labeling Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The average American consumes substan2 tially more added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat 

3 than is recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for 

4 Americans published under section 301 of the Na5 tional Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research 

6 Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341), potentially increasing 

7 their risk for hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and 

8 heart disease. 

9 (2) A large body of experimental and real-world 

10 evidence has demonstrated that front-of-package la11 bels that highlight high levels of added sugars, so12 dium, and saturated fat can significantly improve 

13 the nutritional quality of foods that consumers pur14 chase or select. 

15 (3) Simplified, contextual information on a food 

16 package that compliments the Nutrition Facts label 

17 can help consumers make healthy food choices. Ro18 bust research shows that front-of-package nutrition 

19 labels can be particularly beneficial for busy shop20 pers and for those with lower nutrition knowledge. 

21 (4) Front-of-package nutrition labeling gives 

22 consumers quick and easy access to key information 

23 about the healthfulness of foods and can support 

24 healthier choices. 


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1 (5) Studies also show that front-of-package la2 beling can improve consumers’ understanding of the 

3 relative healthfulness of different foods. 

4 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FRONT-OF-PACK5 AGE LABELING FOR FOODS. 

6 (a) INTERPRETIVE NUTRITION INFORMATION.—Sec7 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

8 (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(z)(1) Except as provided in subparagraphs (3), (4), 

11 and (5) of paragraph (q), if it is food intended for human 

12 consumption and is offered for sale and otherwise required 

13 to bear nutrition labeling, unless its principal display panel 

14 bears interpretive nutrition information. 

15 ‘‘(2) Final regulations regarding the interpretive nu16 trition information required under subparagraph (1) shall 

17 meet the following criteria: 

18 ‘‘(A) There shall be a standardized symbol sys19 tem that displays calorie information related to the 

20 serving size determined under paragraph (q)(1)(A) 

21 and interpretative nutrition information related to 

22 the content of any nutrients that the Secretary de23 termines the highlighting of which will assist con24 sumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices 

25 (such as added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat), inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Dec 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3512.IS S3512

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1 cluding by highlighting products containing high lev2 els of such nutrients. 

3 ‘‘(B) The information shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) appear in a consistent location on the 

5 principal display panels across products; 

6 ‘‘(ii) have a prominent design that visually 

7 contrasts with existing packaging design; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) be sufficiently large to be easily leg9 ible. 

10 ‘‘(3) In promulgating regulations regarding the inter11 pretive nutrition information required under subpara12 graph (1) and the standardized symbol system required 

13 under subparagraph (2)(A), the Secretary shall take into 

14 account published reports by the Health and Medicine Di15 vision of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, 

16 and Medicine regarding such information, and base regu17 lations on the following principles: 

18 ‘‘(A) Consumers should be able to quickly and 

19 easily comprehend the meaning of the system as an 

20 indicator of a product’s contribution to a healthy 

21 diet without requiring specific or sophisticated nutri22 tional knowledge. 

23 ‘‘(B) The information should be provided to fa24 cilitate consumer selection of healthy product opVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Dec 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3512.IS S3512

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1 tions, including among nutritionally at-risk sub2 populations. 

3 ‘‘(C) The Secretary should periodically evaluate 

4 the standardized symbol system to assess its effec5 tiveness in providing information to facilitate con6 sumer selection of healthy product options and the 

7 extent to which manufacturers are offering healthier 

8 products as a result of the disclosure. 

9 ‘‘(D) The implementation of the information 

10 disclosure should be accompanied by appropriate 

11 consumer education and promotion campaigns deter12 mined by the Secretary.’’. 

13 (b) REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 

15 the effective date specified in final regulations issued 

16 by the Secretary pursuant to section 4(b), the Sec17 retary of Health and Human Services (referred to in 

18 this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit to Con19 gress a report that— 

20 (A) evaluates whether implementation of 

21 the amendment made by subsection (a) has 

22 been associated with an increase in the preva23 lence of products containing low- or no-calorie 

24 sweeteners in the United States food supply; 

25 and 


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1 (B) describes actions that will be taken by 

2 the Secretary to further monitor the use of low3 and no-calorie sweeteners in such products, if 

4 there has been an increase described in sub5 paragraph (A). 

6 (2) UPDATE.—Not later than 3 years after 

7 completion of the report described in paragraph (1), 

8 the Secretary shall submit to Congress an update to 

9 such report based on more recent data. 

10 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

11 (a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 

12 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall issue proposed regulations to carry out the 

14 amendment made by section 3(a). 

15 (b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 3 years 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

17 finalize the regulations proposed pursuant to subsection 

18 (a), which regulations shall specify the date on which the 

19 amendment made by section 3(a) shall take effect. 


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