The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s proposal that all food labels will have to list the amount of added sugar and recommended consumption levels has faced strong opposition from the food and beverage industries.

The proposal is part of an overhaul of the nutrition facts label proposed last year by the Obama administration. Usually the labels on food and beverages contain percent daily values for other nutrients, but they do not contain any information about the added sugar.

Therefore, a government advisory committee recommended people that they must get not more than 10% of calories daily from added sugars.

It has been said that the FDA proposal would be based on that number, meaning that the added sugars should be no more than 200 calories, or about 50 grams, in a recommended daily diet of 2,000 calories.

So if a product’s label shows that it has 50 grams if added sugar, the percent daily value for added sugars would be listed as 100 %.

Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said, “For the past decade, consumers have been advised to reduce their intake of added sugars, and the proposed percent daily value for added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label is intended to help consumers follow that advice”.

The FDA stated that the proposal is open for public comment for 75 days. The agency is also planning to re-open public comment on the larger nutrition facts panel overhaul first proposed in March 2014.