To help you stay up to speed with the heated debate all this is generating in the industry, you can read the comments in the docket HERE (serving sizes) and HERE (Nutrition Facts).
To read the proposals in full, click HERE, but here’s a summary of the key changes and the proposed TIMETABLE:
- Remove ‘calories from fat’.
- Declare ‘added sugars’.
- Require pre-approval for some fiber ingredients included in dietary fiber calculation.
- Keep mandatory requirement to list calcium & iron, make vitamins A & C voluntary.
- Add mandatory requirement to list vitamin D & potassium.
- Update reference values used to calculate % DVs of nutrients.
- Update reference value for sodium from 2,400mg to 2,300mg.
- Make ‘calories’ more prominent.
Separately, the FDA is also proposing to tweak serving sizes to better reflect real-life consumption behavior (who eats half a muffin washed down with half a can of energy drink?).
To read the proposals in full, click HERE, but here’s a summary of the key changes:
- Amend definition of a single-serving container.
- Require dual-column labeling for certain containers.
- Update and modify several reference amounts customarily consumed (RACC).
- Add several food products and categories to the RACC per eating occasion for the general food supply.
- Make technical amendments to various aspects of the serving size regulations.
How have stakeholders reacted to the changes?
We’ve pulled together all of our recent content on this topic below:
GMA: Nutrition Facts ‘added sugar’ proposal could have bizarre consequences for fruit juice labels
One bizarre consequence of FDA proposals to include ‘added sugars’ on the Nutrition Facts panel would be that not-from-concentrate 100% fruit juice could boast 0g ‘added sugar’ on the new-look labels, whereas 100% juice made from concentrate (containing an identical amount of sugar) would have to list its sugar as ‘added’.
Kellogg: Including ‘added sugars’ on Nutrition Facts panel will just confuse shoppers
Almost a quarter of primary grocery shoppers are unable to correctly identify the total amount of sugar in products featuring the FDA’s ‘new-look’ Nutrition Facts labels, which require manufacturers to list ‘sugar’ and ‘added sugar’ separately, according to a Kellogg survey.
FDA proposals to increase the RDI for calcium and vitamin D as part of an overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel mean that juice makers could face major formulation challenges if they still want to make nutrient content claims about these ingredients, claims the Juice Products Association.
FDA proposals that would require the pre-approval of certain fiber ingredients before the agency will count them as ‘dietary fibers’ on the Nutrition Facts panel are illogical and unfair, claim industry commentators.
FDA proposals to increase the RDI for certain nutrients as part of an overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel mean that milk would no longer qualify as an excellent source of vitamin D or a good source of potassium, while some cheeses and yogurts could lose their eligibility for excellent.
Serving sizes for cereals, canned soup and cooking sprays are completely unrealistic, say Yale researchers
As part of its overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel, the FDA is proposing to tweak serving sizes to better reflect real-life consumption behavior. But which products should be targeted?
Does vitamin D belong on the Nutrition Facts panel?
FDA proposals to increase the RDI for certain nutrients as part of an overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel mean that milk would no longer qualify as an excellent source of vitamin D or a good source of potassium, while some cheeses and yogurts could lose their eligibility for excellent source of calcium claims, say dairy firms.
Should ‘added sugars' be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel?
A row is brewing over the merits of including ‘added sugars’ on the Nutrition Facts panel, with critics arguing that our bodies don’t distinguish between ‘naturally occurring’ and ‘added’ sugar - and neither should food labels - and supporters saying it will help consumers identify foods with more empty calories.
Nutrition Facts overhaul is a missed opportunity for long chain omega-3s EPA and DHA, says GOED
The FDA’s overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel misses a public health opportunity by prohibiting firms from even highlighting long chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA on the panel, says GOED.
What are the biggest contributors of added sugars to the US diet?
Check out this analysis of NHANES data to see where our added sugars are coming from plus read new comments about the ‘added sugars’ labeling proposal from Ocean Spray cranberries and others.
Former FDA commissioner: Nutrition Facts overhaul doesn’t go far enough
FDA proposals to overhaul the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels don’t got far enough, says former FDA commissioner David Kessler, M.D.
FDA proposals to change the way serving sizes are calculated to better reflect real-life eating behavior could encourage some people to eat even more unless the wording is changed, says one expert group.
Until phosphorus gets on the USDA’s radar, labeling policy won’t change: NKF
While phosphorus is an essential nutrient found naturally in some foods such as egg yolk and milk, it is increasingly added to packaged foods via a raft of phosphorus additives, and some experts believe it should be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel.
Canada’s proposed Nutrition Label changes emphasize calories, sugar
Health Canada is proposing changes to nutrition labels that would make them easier for consumers to read.
RD: There’s a health continuum for every food; what pillars do you want to stand on?
Rachel Cheatham, RD, founder of nutrition strategy consultancy FoodScape Group, talks food labeling at the IFT show.
Is your product ready for nutrition label changes?
“A 16-ounce drink and a two-ounce bag of potato chips are a single serving. If it’s bigger than that, from 200 to 400%, then you need to declare two columns of information—one for the serving size and one for the whole container.”
Proposed nutrition labels more effective than current labels: survey
Consumers find proposed labels easier to read in less time.
How much do consumers use (and understand) nutrition labels?
New research from the NPD Group is questioning how many US consumers even routinely check nutrition labels anymore.
FDA’s proposed nutrition label changes emphasize calories, serving sizes
If approved, the new labels would place a bigger emphasis on total calories and update serving sizes, while also drawing attention to added sugars and nutrients such as Vitamin D and potassium.
CRN, NPA submit comments on FDA's proposed changes to food, supplement labels
Both the Council for Responsible Nutrition and the Natural Products Association have submitted a comments on FDA’s proposed revisions for food and dietary supplement labels.
