This Friday, May 27, 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will publish its revised Nutrition and Supplement Facts and Serving Size regulations. The Serving Size regulation in public inspection view is close to 180 pages and the Nutrition Facts regulation is close to 1,000 pages.
Significantly, for beverages:
- Serving size will be 12 ounces.
- The new rules require dual column labeling if the container weighs at least 200 percent (e., 24 ounces) and up to and including 300 percent (i.e., 36 ounces) of the applicable referenced amount commonly consumed (here, 12 ounces).
- Where dual column labeling is required, the label must show nutrition information listed (a) per serving and (b) per unit.
In addition, the new rules include “added sugar” labeling requirements that will likely prove quite controversial.
Assuming no congressional intervention or court challenges delay implementation (and the requirements for declaring “added sugar” may result in some), the compliance dates for the new rules are:
- July 26, 2018 for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales; and
- July 26, 2019, for manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales.