An article in the current Journal of the American Medical Association maintains that front-of-package nutrition claims should not be allowed on food and beverage products, a Forbes.com health care blog reported last week.

The JAMA article, by New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle and Boston-based endocrinologist David Ludwig, argues that a ban on all front-of-package claims would force consumers to read the ingredient list and nutrition information. Food companies weren’t permitted to make health claims about their products until 1990, but since then, regulations have loosened.

The authors maintain there’s no compelling evidence that front-of-label health claims make Americans savvier consumers. In fact, a ban would weed out claims based on tenuous science and eliminate the misplaced assurance that consumers get when they buy a product that purports to be good for their bodies, the article suggests.