On May 20, 2016, the FDA announced the new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect new scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease. The new label is meant to make it easier for consumers to make better educated food choices.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a final compliance date for updating Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels. This date is January 1, 2020, for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales. Manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales will receive an extra year to comply – until January 1, 2021.
Key Changes:
Serving Size- serving size now shows what people are currently eating, rather than what they should eat
Calories- total calorie count is now highlighted and larger to make more noticeable
Multi Serving Products-for food products that can be eaten in single or many sittings, there will be a second column to state per serving and per package
Added Sugars- measured in both grams and a percentage, this change enables consumers to tell the difference between sugars added during processing versus sugars that are naturally occurring
Odd Size Packages- packages that area between one and two servings will now be labeled as one serving
Sodium and Dietary Fiber-percent daily values for sodium and dietary fiber have been changed to reflect the new guidelines, 28g of fiber instead of 25 and 2300mg of sodium instead of 2400mg
Vitamins- vitamin D and potassium are now required nutrients to label, vitamin A and C are no longer required
Daily Values-still based on a 2000 calorie diet, statement is more streamlined
Many food and beverage makers — including Hershey, Campbell and Mondelez — anticipated the changes and are using the new Nutritional Facts labels on their products. Food and beverage companies that want to get ahead of these latest regulations will likely start implementing as possible since the cost will only go up the longer it takes.
Don't delay, start planning now to be compliant, Integrity Labeling is here to help. Contact Rhonda Reitz at rreitz@integritylabeling.com
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