Updated: FDA Finalizes New Nutrition Facts Label for Packaged Foods | Practical Law

Updated: FDA Finalizes New Nutrition Facts Label for Packaged Foods | Practical Law

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized a new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect updated information about nutrition science and eating habits.

Updated: FDA Finalizes New Nutrition Facts Label for Packaged Foods

Practical Law Legal Update w-002-4640 (Approx. 4 pages)

Updated: FDA Finalizes New Nutrition Facts Label for Packaged Foods

by Practical Law Commercial Transactions
Published on 02 Oct 2017 • USA (National/Federal)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized a new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect updated information about nutrition science and eating habits.
This resource was updated in October 2017 to reflect the FDA's intention to extend the compliance date.
On May 20, 2016, the FDA announced that it has modernized the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods. The new label makes changes to:
  • Visual design.
  • Nutritional reporting.
  • Serving size and package size reporting.
Under the May 2016 rule, most manufacturers had until July 26, 2018 to begin using the new label on all packaged foods and manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales had until July 26, 2019 to comply.
On June 13, 2017, the FDA announced its intention to extend the compliance date for this rule. The FDA will provide details of the extension in a Federal Register Notice.

Visual Design Changes

The FDA is implementing several design changes meant to highlight relevant information for the consumer. The new label:
  • Increases the type size for "Calories," "servings per container," and the "Serving size" declaration.
  • Bolds the number of calories and the "Serving size" declaration.
  • Declares the actual amount of vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium in the packaged item, in addition to percent Daily Value.
  • Changes the footnote explaining percent Daily Value to read: "*The % Daily Value 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 nutritional advice."

Nutritional Reporting Changes

To better reflect current scientific understanding, the new label makes the following substantive changes to nutritional reporting:
  • Includes "added sugars," in grams and as a percent Daily Value.
  • Updates the list of nutrients required or permitted to be declared by:
    • requiring vitamin D and potassium to be on the label; and
    • making the inclusion of Vitamins A and C voluntary instead of required.
  • Removes "Calories from Fat" from the label.
  • Updates daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber, and vitamin D to reflect new scientific evidence.

Serving Sizes and Certain Package Sizes

The FDA is also changing the standard serving sizes of certain foods, including:
  • Ice cream, which is moving from a serving size of 1/2 to 2/3 cup.
  • Soda, which is moving from a serving size of 8 to 12 ounces.
Package size labeling will also change:
  • For packages that are between one and two servings but typically consumed in one sitting (e.g. a 20 ounce soda), the label must treat it as a single serving when listing nutrition facts.
  • For products that are larger than a single serving and that could be consumed in one or multiple sittings (e.g. a pint of ice cream), manufacturers will have to provide dual column labels to indicate the amount of calories and nutrients on both a per serving and a per package/per unit basis.
For more information on food labeling, see Practice Note, FDA Food Labeling: Overview.

Update II

On October 2, 2017 the FDA released a proposed rule extending the compliance date for the above nutrition information on the label of food, including:
  • Dietary supplements.
  • Defining a single-serving container.
  • Requiring dual column labeling for certain containers.
  • Updating, modifying, and establishing certain reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs).
  • Amending the label serving size for breath mints.
The proposed rule aims to extend the compliance date for manufacturers with:
  • $10 million or more in annual food sales from July 26, 2018 to January 1, 2020.
  • less than $10 million in annual food sales from July 26, 2019 to January 1, 2021.
The FDA is accepting comment electronic and written comments on the proposed rule until November 1, 2017.