Nutrition Facts label deadline hits in 2020, FDA will focus on helping companies first rather than immediately enforcing rule

The deadline for companies to comply with FDA’s new Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts label rules is around the corner. FDA today announced that during the first six months following the first compliance deadline-January 1, 2020-it will focus on helping companies meet the new rules, rather than coming out of the gate to immediately enforce the rules. The agency had received strong requests from numerous leading food and supplement industry associations to provide enforcement flexibility as companies work toward compliance.

Changes to the labeling rules include a new requirement to separately quantify and list added-sugar content, to provide nutrition information reflecting both single- and multiple-serving sizes when applicable, and to adhere to updated Daily Reference Values, among others.

Manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual sales must comply with the deadline of January 1, 2020, while companies with less than $10 million in annual sales have until January 1, 2021, to comply.

In September, associations such as the American Herbal Products Association, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the American Bakers Association, the Corn Refiners Association, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the National Grocers Association jointly sent a letter urging FDA to “provide flexibility in its enforcement of the new nutrition labeling rules as the January 1, 2020, compliance date approaches.”

On its website, FDA now states that, for the first half of next year, the agency will turn its attention to helping companies with compliance rather than immediately enforcing the rule. It says: “The FDA has heard from several manufacturers and groups that more time may be needed to meet all of the requirements. Therefore, during the first six months following the January 1, 2020, compliance date, FDA plans to work cooperatively with manufacturers to meet the new Nutrition Facts label requirements and will not focus on enforcement actions regarding these requirements during that time.”