The current nutritional panel has been unchanged for the past 20 years. On May of 2016 the FDA announced that the nutrition facts label would be getting an update. The changes are meant to reflect new scientific information and the links between diet, obesity and heart disease. The information is laid out in a more convenient way for consumers to find important information.
There has been some specific information added and specific information removed for various reasons.
Added
- Added sugars
- Increased font size of serving size/calories
- Vitamin D
- Potassium
- Actual amounts listed for Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, Potassium.
- Updated daily values
Removed
- Vitamin A
- Calcium
- Vitamin C
- Calories fat
- Removed lengthy footer
Serving Size Changes
The FDA has made a point to start focusing on more accurate serving sizes for products. The idea being serving sizes should reflect what is customarily consumed in one serving. Products that are one or two servings but are normally consumed in one sitting must be labelled as one serving. An example would be a 20 ounce soda that would previously be labeled as two 10 ounce servings must be labelled as one 20 ounce serving. Products must follow what is being referred to as reference amount customarily consumed(RACC). A list of RACCs can be found at here.
When are these required?
The FDA has issued a notice to extend the compliance dates for the nutritional panel update from July 25th 2018 to January 1st 2020 for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales. If you are a manufacturer with less than $10 million in annual sales your compliance date is January 1st 2021. If this is rule extension does not pass the FDA will use enforcement discretion to the current date of July 26th 2018.