By Carma Hassan, CNN

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration is proposing nutrition information be placed on the front of packaged foods to provide at-a-glance information about saturated fat, sodium and added sugar.

“This proposal plays a key role in the agency’s nutrition priorities, which are part of a government-wide effort in combatting the nation’s chronic disease crisis,” the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.

The proposed label, also called the nutrition info box, would break down information about sodium, added sugar and saturated fat content by saying whether the food contains “Low,” “Med” or “High” levels of the nutrients. The nutrition label on the back of products would remain and complement the information on the front of the label.

A few different design options were tested in a representative sample of US adults to see which type of packaging allowed consumers to make “quicker and more accurate assessments” of products, the agency said, and the proposed option performed best in most cases.

“Participants, provided more correct answers regarding the helpfulness of the product than the other schemes tested, and also spent significantly less time evaluating the nutrient profile of the product,” Dr. Robin McKinnon, acting director for the FDA’s Nutrition Center of Excellence, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Products that contain at least 20% of the daily value of a nutrient would be considered to have “high” levels, 5% or less would be “low,” and the “medium” category would capture the rest.

The agency said 60% of Americans have at least one chronic disease such as heart disease and diabetes and the “excess consumption of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars” is a major contributing factor.

“The science on saturated fat, sodium and added sugars is clear,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a statement. “Nearly everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic disease that is due, in part, to the food we eat. It is time we make it easier for consumers to glance, grab and go. Adding front-of-package nutrition labeling to most packaged foods would do that. We are fully committed to pulling all the levers available to the FDA to make nutrition information readily accessible as part of our efforts to promote public health.”

Comments on the proposal are open through May 16.

Nancy Brown, the chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, said the proposal would simplify nutrition information and help consumers make healthier food purchases.

“By proposing front-of-pack labeling in the United States, the FDA is taking an important step to make nutrition information clearer and more accessible, and to empower consumers to make informed choices for their health and the health of their families. For decades, the Nutrition Facts label has been an essential tool to educate people across the country about the nutritional content of their food and drinks, but high rates of diet-related illnesses continue to show that additional actions are needed to address the confusion and barriers consumers face in evaluating and identifying better options,” Brown said in a statement.

If finalized, the rule would expect major food manufacturers to add the nutrition info box to most of their packaged foods three years after the rule’s effective date. Food manufacturers with less than $10 million in food sales annually would be expected to comply within four years.

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