The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed the inclusion of percent daily value (%DV) for added sugars to the Nutrition Facts label of packaged foods.

Consumers should get no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugar, according to federal nutrition guidelines. The percent daily value would be based on the recommendation that the daily intake of calories from added sugars not exceed 10 percent of total calories.

Labels now include percent daily values for other nutrients, but the proposal didn’t have one for added sugars.

It added: “When sugars are added to foods and beverages to sweeten them, they add calories without providing additional nutrients“.

“Consumers can still choose foods that have added sugars as part of a healthy diet, but the proposed daily value would provide a benchmark for intake”, Dr. Mayne said.

“There is no scientific support for distinguishing between “added sugar” and “naturally occurring” sugars”, IDFA said.

The committee said that added sugars account for 13.4 percent of total calories that the U.S. population consumes and that almost 90 percent of the general population exceeded the recommended limit.

Currently, the nutrition facts label lists percent daily values for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, iron, calcium and vitamins A and C.

The public has 75 to comment on the proposed rule. The proposal expands on earlier changes to the Nutrition Facts label that the agency released in 2014. Now, the same agency thinks it would be more informative to consumers if the label is displayed as a percentage to fit a context. “Thus, added sugar labeling may convey false and misleading information to consumers”. “For example, a consumer who drinks a 20-oz sugared beverage may be surprised to know it contains about 66 grams of added sugar, which would be listed on the label as 132% of the daily value”. And reducing intake to below 5 percent – about 25 grams (or six teaspoons) a day – would be even better for our health.

The sugar industry said there isn’t enough science to justify the proposal.

The problem with all kinds of sugar – no matter where it comes from – is that after years of eating too much of it, insulin (a hormone that allows your body to use sugar as energy) becomes exhausted, registered dietician Keri Glassman told Yahoo Health in June.