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 will make it easier for consumers to make better informed food choices. FDA published the final rules in the Federal Register on May 27, 2016. Here’s the FDA page, read on.
Changes:
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- Increasing the type size for “Calories,” “servings per container,” and the “Serving size” declaration, and bolding the number of calories and the “Serving size” declaration to highlight this information.
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- Manufacturers must declare the actual amount, in addition to percent Daily Value of vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. They can voluntarily declare the gram amount for other vitamins and minerals.
- The footnote is changing to better explain what percent Daily Value means. It will 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 nutrition advice.”
There are a number of label format examples based on size, product and information requirements so investigate which label is right for your product. Here is one of the new nutrition formats for ice cream that I have used.
Dual Column Display, Per Serving and Per Container:
Displays Per Serving and Per Container
Compliance Date:
On September 29, the FDA released a proposed rule to extend the compliance dates for the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts label final rule and the Serving Size final rule from July 26, 2018, to Jan. 1, 2020, for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales. Manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales would receive an extra year to comply—until Jan. 1, 2021.
In May 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts Label and Serving Size final rules and set the compliance date for July 26, 2018, with an additional year to comply for manufacturers with annual food sales of less than $10 million. After those rules were finalized, industry and consumer groups provided the FDA with feedback regarding the compliance dates. After careful consideration, the FDA determined that additional time would provide manufacturers covered by the rule with necessary guidance from FDA, and would help them be able to complete and print updated nutrition facts panels for their products before they are expected to be in compliance.
As a result, the FDA intends to extend the compliance dates to provide the additional time for implementation. The framework for the extension will be guided by the desire to give industry more time and decrease costs, balanced with the importance of minimizing the transition period during which consumers will see both the old and the new versions of the label in the marketplace.
Even though the compliance date is 2021 for most of my clients, I still encourage them to make the change now, especially if they are making a label change of some sort anyway. Why?, because I believe it represents a company leading the pack and even taking a more responsible position than the competition.
Why Are Some Companies Waiting Until the Drop Dead Date to Comply?
In my opinion, manufacturers are hesitant to easily display the total number of calories, fat or sodium in their product. As an exercise, grab one of your favorite products, look at the top of nutrition box for total servings per container. Take that number and multiply by the listed calories from fat. As example, if the label states 72 calories from fat/serving with 8 servings per container, then multiply 72 x 8 for the total calories from fat which in this instance is 576/container. Now and most importantly, recognize the amount of times you go back to the container before emptying. Most pints of ice cream and other frozen desserts use 4 servings per container as the standard value, in reality most consumers finish off the pint in just 2 servings. If you agree, do the same exercise and multiply by 2 to better understand what a serving really consists of. The main purpose for the FDA to enact a nutrition fact change, is because the manufacturer has taken advantage that most consumers do not understand how a panel is calculated and in most instances, has minimized what I term as “calorie reality” of actual consumption. In a 20 fl oz bottle of soda, the servings per container typically states 2 – 3 servings, when in actuality a bottle goes down in one serving. I am a high advocate in truth in labeling and have written a few articles on the subject.
Opinion:
I suggest, if a manufacturer truly takes pride in the product they make, then they should display nutrition information that best represent a realistic servings per container by the typical consumer. Let the consumer have the power to easily understand the consequence of the serving they wish to consume. The good news, over the next few years, every manufacturer will be required to have their product more transparent in information to the consumer.
If you want to be honest about your product, contact Darryl, he can educate you on nutrition facts and fiction.
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