Volume 16, Number
9 - September 2016
Hello from Food Label News.
If you've enjoyed a brief vacation this summer from thinking
about how the new labeling regulations will affect your
products, you may appreciate the New Nutrition Label Series,
continuing this month with an overview of changes to serving
sizes for typical Americans. You may also consult the Food
Label Community on LinkedIn for additional conversations
about the new regulations or let us help with a full label
compliance review to start your transition plans.
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Changes to Serving Sizes
Part 4, New Nutrition Label Series
Nationwide consumption surveys for food and beverage
indicate that Americans are consuming more than they did 20
years ago. FDA's new nutrition labeling regulations mirror
these consumption patterns with changes to reference amounts
customarily consumed (RACCs). Note that these FDA-established
reference amounts are not recommendations for what people
should be eating but rather represent important nutrition
information for the amount of food people typically eat.
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Here are the highlights of
the changes, very similar to what was proposed.
About 20% of food product categories are updated. |
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The majority of changes reflect an increase in RACCs,
such as carbonated and many non-carbonated beverages (from 240
mL to 360 mL); ice cream (from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup); canned fish,
shellfish and game meat (from 55g to 85g); sugar (from 4g to
8g). |
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A few RACCs are reduced, such as yogurt (from 225g
to 170g) and most candies (from 40g to 30g). |
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Some category descriptions are expanded to include
more food items. For example, scones and crumpets added to the
general bakery category (RACC =55g); crepes added to the
category with french toast and pancakes (RACC unchanged from
110g prepared). |
About 25 new food product categories are added. |
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Some food items have become their own category. For
example: bagels, toaster pastries and muffins are a new combined
category (RACC =110g) and are no longer in the general bakery
category (RACC = 55g). |
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New categories include:
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Egg roll, dumpling, wonton or
potsticker wrappers (RACC = 20g) |
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Cocoa powder, carob powder,
unsweetened (RACC = 1 tbsp) |
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Milk, milk substitute or fruit juice
concentrates (without alcohol), drink mixers,
sweetened cocoa powder (RACC = amount to make 240 mL
of drink) |
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Drink mixes (without alcohol),
flavored syrups and powdered drink mixes (RACC =
amount to make 360 mL of drink) |
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Seasoning oils and seasoning sauces (RACC
= 1 tbsp) |
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Seasoning paste (RACC = 1 tsp)
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Appetizers, hors doeuvres and mini
mixed dishes (RACC = 85g, 120g with gravy or sauce
topping) |
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Dried soup mix, bouillon (RACC =
amount to make 245g) |
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After dinner confectioneries: small
chocolate squares, butter mints (RACC = 10g) |
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Dried vegetables, dried tomatoes,
sundried tomatoes, dried mushrooms, dried seaweed (RACC
= 5g, 10g in oil) |
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Dried seaweed sheets (RACC = 3g)
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Fresh and canned sprouts (RACC = 1/4
cup) |
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Next month we continue with Part
5 of the New Nutrition Label Series: Serving Up Servings Per Container -
Dual Declaration Labels. Here is what you need to
know if you missed
Part 1,
Part 2,
or
Part
3 of the series. |
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New RACC
amounts and added categories impact nutrient content claims and servings
per container. To ensure compliance, food labelers will need to review
product formulations, package sizes and claims. For example, a bagel
previously labeled as 2 servings according to the former 55g RACC, will
now be a single serving according to the revised 110g RACC. The higher
nutrition values may allow a new high iron claim or no longer enable a
low fat claim. Consider a full label compliance review in light of new
nutrition labeling regulations to ensure compliance.
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What's
News in the Food Label
Community
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Reader Q&A
Find
answers to our readers'
questions or send us
your question for an
upcoming issue.
Q. |
If our ingredient supplier provided us with an
ingredient statement that includes "contains 2% or less
of each of the following: ...", is it ok for us to
simply list all of the ingredients in our ingredient
statement or is the "contains 2%" phrase required?
− J.K., Pennsylvania, Consultant |
A. |
The Code of Federal Regulations requires that
ingredients be listed in descending order by weight in
the formula unless they are present at 2% or less (and
then they can be in any order following the "contains 2%
or less" phrase). In your example, when a formula has an
ingredient that uses the "contains 2% or less" phrase
for sub-ingredients, it is not acceptable to remove the
phrase unless your supplier provides you with the exact
order of predominance.
Read
More. |
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What Matters in Food Labeling
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