Nutrition labels have a complicated legacy

The Nutrition Facts label, the black-and-white information box found on nearly every packaged food product in the U.S. since 1994, has recently become a symbol of transparency for consumers.

From Apple's "Privacy Nutrition Labels," which reveal how smartphone apps handle user data, to a "Garment Facts" label that standardizes ethical disclosures on clothing, policy advocates across industries are touting "Nutrition Facts" as a model for empowering consumers and enabling socially responsible markets. They argue that intuitive information solutions could solve a wide range of market-driven societal ills.

Yet this well-known, everyday product label actually has a complicated history.

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