Democracy Dies in Darkness

Burkey Belser, designer of ubiquitous nutrition facts label, dies at 76

His creation is celebrated as a triumph of public health and a masterpiece of graphic design. Millions of people use it every day.

By
September 25, 2023 at 7:03 p.m. EDT
Nutritional information labels (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)
6 min

Burkey Belser, a graphic designer who created the ubiquitous nutrition facts label — a stark rectangle listing calories, fat, sodium and other content information — that adorns the packaging of nearly every digestible product in grocery stores, died Sept. 25 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 76.

The cause was bladder cancer, said his wife Donna Greenfield, with whom he founded the Washington, D.C., design firm Greenfield/Belser.