This builds on Sebastian H's answer, but I tested it and this works
var element = $( '#foo label' );
var newData = '';
var data = element.text();
var length = data.length;
var i = 0;
$( '#foo label' ).html("");
while( i < length )
{
$( '#foo label' ).append(data.charAt( i ) + "
")
i++;
}