Nutrition labels are about to change for the first time in 20 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced.

The plan is make nutritional information more readable with calories appearing in bold type and the addition of added sugar in food products. The FDA hopes that the change will allow Americans to make healthier food choices and easily determine which foods should be eaten in moderation as stated by FDA’s director at Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Susan Mayne.

“The fresh designs will draw people’s attention to calories and servings. The intention is not to tell consumers what to eat, but rather to make sure they have the tools and accurate information they need to choose food that is right for themselves and their families.”

Serving sizes have also been addressed to make sure consumers are aware of the daily serving amounts of larger portioned packets. For example a large bag of potato chips will have a food label that indicates the nutritional information of the whole bag and in a single serving. Again, to encourage people to be more conscious of serving sizes when consuming unhealthy foods.

Sugar is a major worry in the U.S. and the new labels will hopefully go towards reducing the amount of sugar consumed by Americans each day. Some food manufacturers have been opposing the new change for two years before the new labels were approved. All larger manufacturers will be asked to start using the labels by law from July 2018.

Many organizations like The American Heart Association advocate the addition of more indepth labelling as they hope it will go towards the reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.

For more information on the new labels, visit the FDA website here.