Final guidance expands on answers about labeling regulations for manufacturers
By NACS Online // January 06, 2020
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a final guidance to outline Nutrition Facts labeling regulations. According to New Food Magazine, the final guidance addresses “serving sizes of foods, including single-serving foods and other foods that can reasonably be consumed at one eating occasion and require dual-column labeling.”
The guidance, which includes an expanded Q&A section, helps manufacturers of packaged foods comply with the FDA’s updated regulations. In 2016, the FDA published two rules that updated labeling regulations to provide updated nutrition information to help consumers maintain healthy dietary practices.
Updates and expanded information include:
- Providing additional background information in response to a question regarding reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs) for non-juice beverages for infants and young children
- Modifying for clarity a question and response concerning whether the Nutrition Facts label for products sold in small packages must list all nutrients that are contained in insignificant amounts
- Modifying the response to a question regarding the placement of the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels to clarify that the Nutrition Facts or Supplement Facts label should not be placed on the bottom of packages (such as the bottom of boxes, cans, and bottles), unless they are visible during normal retail display and consumer handling.
Manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales are required to comply with these changes. Those with less than $10 million will have an additional year to comply. The FDA says it will work cooperatively with companies to meet these new requirements for the first six months of 2020.
