AHPA joins call for FDA to extend enforcement on food-labeling rules for small firms

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The American Herbal Product Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) joined 16 other trade associations that make up the Food and Beverage Issue Alliance (FBIA) in a letter sent to FDA on Aug. 21 requesting more time for small businesses to understand and comply with the new nutrition-labeling regulations that were issued and finalized on May 27, 2016. 

The final rule amends 21 CFR §§ 101.9 and 101.36 and has a wide range of effects on food and supplement product labeling, including changes to the format of the supplement facts panel and revisions to the Daily Reference Values (DRVs) of many nutrients.

In the letter, AHPA and other members of the Food and Beverage Issue Alliance (FBIA) ask FDA to give small companies a one-year extension to come into compliance with the complex new labeling rules—the same as its offered larger companies, moving the compliance date to Jan. 1, 2022.

FDA has remained silent about the issue of enforcement discretion for smaller companies, hence the Aug. 21 letter. The letter from FBIA identifies that smaller companies are impacted by the same challenges of product reformulation, the disposal of old labels, and the design and production of new labels. The letter additionally notes that small companies are every bit as affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic as larger ones.

AHPA offers free guidance to industry on federal labeling requirements for herbal dietary supplements.