On January 4th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued two Federal Register notices (available here and here) announcing the availability of two long-awaited draft guidance documents. The first draft guidance document, Questions and Answers on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels Related to the Compliance Date, Added Sugars, and Declaration of Quantitative Amounts of Vitamins and Minerals, is intended to assist industry in complying with the May 2016 final rule amending the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labeling requirements. Although the guidance document does not extend the earliest compliance deadline of July 26, 2018, it does clarify that products that are labeled before July 26, 2018 (or July 26, 2019 for manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales) do not need to be in compliance with the new labeling requirements and may use the old nutrition label. Products that are labeled on or after July 26, 2018 (or July 26, 2019 for manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales) must bear a nutrition label that complies with the new nutrition labeling requirements.
The second draft guidance document, Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed, provides examples of foods that belong to each product category included in the tables of Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) per Eating Occasion that are established under the serving size regulatory provisions. FDA intends for these examples to assist industry in identifying the appropriate food categories for their products and determining the serving size on a product’s Nutrition Facts label.
While comments on any of the topics discussed in the draft guidance documents may be submitted at any time, they should be submitted by March 6, 2017 to be considered by FDA in finalizing these two guidance documents. The Husch Blackwell Food Safety & Labeling team is available to assist with the comment process or to answer any questions you may have regarding FDA rules.