FDA Announces Supplemental Proposal to the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels
Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of a proposal that supplements the March 3, 2014 proposed rule that would revise the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts label requirements. The supplement would require inclusion of the percent daily value (% DV) for added sugars and change the current footnote of the Nutrition Facts label.
The % DV for added sugars would be based on the recommendation that the daily intake of calories from added sugars not exceed 10 percent of total calories. FDA is proposing that the Daily Reference Value (DRV) for added sugars be 50 grams for adults and children 4 years of age and older and 25 grams for children 1 through 3 years of age. FDA is not proposing a % DV for total sugars. The supplement also provides additional rationale for the declaration of added sugars, indicating that FDA is not abandoning the declaration of added sugars in the Nutrition/Supplement Facts label. FDA cites to the science underlying a new report released by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee as a basis for its actions.
The proposed footnote would be shorter than the current footnote, stating: “*The percent daily value (%DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.” The change to the footnote is being made in response to results FDA obtained from consumer research. In addition, certain foods will be exempt from the footnote requirement.
FDA is also reopening the comment period on the original proposals for 60 days to give the public an opportunity to comment on two consumer studies. Based on these studies, FDA has tentatively concluded that it does not intend to further consider alternate formats for the Nutrition Facts label. The consumer studies are: (1) FDA, Eye-Tracking Experimental Study on Consumer Responses to Modifications to the Nutrition Facts Label Outlined in the Food and Drug Administration’s Proposed Rulemaking, June 2015; and (2) FDA, Experimental Study of Proposed Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label Formats, June 2015.
These proposals will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, July 27.
FDA has also posted materials at:
For more information on the original proposals that published on March 3, 2014 please see our alert FDA Announces Major Revisions to the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
Keller and Heckman LLP has decades of experience in the food labeling arena and were very involved with the development of the original Nutrition Labeling rules in the early 1990’s and in helping clients implement the final rules in 1993. As such, we would be happy to discuss the ramification of these proposed rules with you and assist in drafting comments. Comments on the supplemental notice are due on October 13, 2015 (75 days from publication).