The FDA plans to delay the debut of the updated Nutrition Facts label to Jan. 1, 2020, some 43 months after the Obama administration unveiled the first overhaul of the label in 20 years. The agency said it acted “in response to the continued concern that companies and trade associations have shared with us regarding the time needed for implementation of the final rules.”
The new label requires food companies to say how much sugar is added during processing, update serving sizes, and list calories, serving size and servings per container in larger print. It was supposed to take effect July 28, 2018. The FDA announced in June that it would delay implementation because foodmakers needed more time to comply. In a “constituent update,” FDA proposed the new date of Jan. 1, 2020, for food companies with more than $10 million a year in sales. Companies with smaller sales have until Jan 1, 2021, to comply. Comments on the proposal will be accepted for 30 days, beginning today.
“This common-sense extension to January 1, 2020 will allow FDA to complete the necessary final guidance documents for added sugars and dietary fibers and gives companies adequate time to make the Nutrition Facts Panel revisions,” said the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group. The consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest said the FDA “cave in to food industry demands” would deny vital information to consumers during an epidemic of obesity.
To read the constituent update and FDA’s descriptions of the new labels, click here.