FDA Gives More Compliance Time for New Nutrition Facts Label

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to push back the new nutrition facts labeling deadline at the request of various manufacturer companies and food industry trade groups.

Originally, the new nutrition facts labeling rule was slated to go into effect July 26, 2018, requiring companies to provide more accurate nutrition labels with information on calories, serving size, fat, cholesterol, fiber and sugar clearly accessible to consumers. Businesses with annual food sales of less than $10 million would be given an extra year to reach full compliance.

"Numerous stakeholders have informed us that they have significant concerns about their ability to update all their labels by the compliance date due to issues regarding (among other things) the need for upgrades to labeling software, getting nutrition information from suppliers, the number of products that would need new labels, and a limited time for the reformulation of products," the FDA explained.

Per the new regulations on nutrition facts labels, both the calorie count and serving size need to be featured more prominently. The new rule also requires more details about added sugar, and updated recommended daily intake values.

According to FDA spokeswoman Deborah Kotz, a new deadline has yet to be set.

Last month, the FDA also opted to delay the compliance date for chain restaurants to provide prominent displays of calorie counts of their standard menu items, as well as additional nutrition information regarding items’ total fat, sodium and total carbohydrates. That rule was expected to go into effect May 5. Now, chains with 20 or more locations, convenience stores and supermarkets with menu items, bakeries and ice cream parlors have until May 7, 2018 to comply.

Click here to see the full story from Convenience Store News sister publication Progressive Grocer.