MAY 2003
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...INTOUCH... Volume 4/Number 5 May 2,
2003
Monthly Updates on Government Action Affecting Food
Labels
Brought to you by: The Food Consulting Company
Your source for food label help at
www.foodlabels.com
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Greetings! The Food Consulting Company helps food
labelers
choose and apply nutrient content claims to food
labels. Get your
FREE list of FDA approved nutrient content claims by
sending
an email to
mailto:claims@foodlabels.com - please include your
name and company name in the body of your email.
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CFSAN 2003 Priorities Include Rules for Food Labels
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The Center for Food Science and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)
recently released program priorities for the Center's
work for the
current fiscal year 2003 (October 1, 2002, through
September
30, 2003). Goals are identified as "A-list" or
"B-list." A number
of food and dietary supplement labeling rules are
among the
priorities. The Center plans to complete 90 percent
of the
"A-list" items by the end of the current fiscal year,
and to make
progress on "B-list" goals though the work on those
items might
be carried over to the next year. See priority list
at:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cfsan303.html
...INTOUCH... Comments: The food and dietary
supplement
labeling priorities listed in the CFSAN report will be
familiar to
INTOUCH subscribers as nearly all have been addressed
in
previous issues of INTOUCH.
As an update to our "trans fat" report in April
INTOUCH, it
appears that though the trans fat Final Rule will
likely be pub-
lished by September 30, 2003, the proposed trans fatty
acid
footnote will not be part of the rule. A separate
"A-list" goal
is to "publish an advance notice of proposed
rulemaking
(ANPRM) on an appropriate footnote for the food label
to put
trans fatty acids into proper context with other
dietary fat, and
initiate research on how best to communicate this
information
to consumers." (See priority number 2.2.4 in the
CFSAN
document.)
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FSIS Proposes Changes in Rules for Nutrition Labels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is
pro-
posing to amend its nutrition labeling regulations to:
-- change the definition of "meal-type" products to
match
FDA's definition
-- adopt the definition of "main-dish" products used
by FDA
-- define how nutrient content claims can be used on
USDA
"meal-type" and "main-dish" products
The change in the definition of "meal-type" products
would
allow nutrient content claims to be based on 100 grams
of
product rather than on the serving size, and would
also allow
for nutrient content claims on multiple-serving
"meal-type"
products. Read Proposed Rule and submit comments at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/00-046P.htm
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Reference Available for Canada Nutrition Label
Regulations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A quick reference guide for Canada's mandatory
nutrition
labeling regulations is available from the Food and
Consumer
Products Manufacturers of Canada. "Mandatory
Nutrition
Labelling - Quick Reference Guide" can be purchased
for a
nominal cost. For order information see:
http://www.fcpmc.com/publications/regulatory.html
...INTOUCH... Comments: Manufacturers and importers
have
up to three years to comply with the new Canadian
regulations
for mandatory nutrition labeling; small businesses
have five
years. The mandatory compliance date is on or before
December 12, 2005, for large and medium-sized
companies,
and on or before December 12, 2007, for small
companies.
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FYI: If you are contemplating changes to your labels
to comply
with the pending FDA Final Rule for trans fatty acids
expected
during this fiscal year, keep in mind that the
mandatory compli-
ance date will be on or before January 1, 2006.
© Food Consulting Company, 2003. |