Starting in 2024, U.S. consumers are going to start seeing new formulations of yogurt on supermarket shelves. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released an amended standard of identity for yogurt as part of its Nutrition Innovation Strategy. According to the FDA, the new, modernized standard of identity for yogurt allows for greater innovation and technical advances in yogurt production while maintaining yogurt’s basic nature and essential characteristics.
Foods Soon to Bear Sesame Allergen Labels
Recently, President Biden signed the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research (FASTER) Act. The law adds sesame to the list of major allergens, requiring its disclosure on food labels as an allergen. Food manufacturers have until January 1, 2023 to add sesame allergen statements to their labels.
Current food labeling regulation allows sesame to be declared as a “natural flavor” or “natural spice.” This creates uncertainty for consumers allergic to sesame when they review product labels at their local grocery stores.
FDA Issues Action Plan to Reduce Heavy Metals in Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a new action plan designed to further reduce exposure to toxic elements, including heavy metals, from foods for infants and young children. This represents the latest development concerning the widespread focus on the levels of heavy metals in baby food. The action plan, titled “Closer to Zero” highlights four steps that the FDA will take over the next three years to reduce exposure to toxic elements “to as low as possible.”
FDA Publishes List of Required FSVP Records
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published a list of the records that importers are required to develop and maintain under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP).
FDA Launches Revised Food Defense Plan Builder
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an updated version of the Food Defense Plan Builder to help companies meet the requirements of the Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration regulations at 21 C.F.R. part 121, also known as the Intentional Adulteration (IA) rule.
FDA Announced Public Meeting on New Era of Food Safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced it will hold a public meeting on October 21, 2019 to discuss the “New Era of Food Safety.” FDA is exploring new and emerging technology to assess risks and prioritize resources, while creating a digital, traceable, and safer system. The agency’s initial focus areas are traceability, smarter tools and approaches for prevention, the challenges of new business models and retail food safety, and support for the development of food safety cultures.
FDA Announces Meeting on Modernizing Standards of Identity
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will host a public meeting on September 27, 2019 to discuss FDA’s efforts to modernize standards of identity and provide information about changes the FDA could make to existing standards of identity.
This public meeting is part of FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy, which seeks to improve
FDA Releases Guidance on Convert Units of Measure for Certain Nutrients on Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released guidance to assist food and dietary supplement companies on how to convert the previous units of measure for folate, niacin, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E to the new units required on the updated Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels. The guidance includes step by step instructions, conversion factors for each nutrient, and sample calculations for converting to the new units of measure.
FDA Proposes New Health Warning for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that would require health warnings on cigarette packages and advertising. The warnings include color images depicting some of the lesser-known health risks of cigarette smoking. This is FDA’s second attempt to require graphic warnings for cigarette packages and advertisements.
FDA Issues First Warning Letter under FSVP Regulations
On July 30, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its first Warning Letter to an importer for violations of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) requirements at 21 C.F.R. Part 1, Subpart L (21 C.F.R. §§ 1.500 through 1.514). The Warning Letter was issued to a U.S. importer related to imported tahini implicated in a multi-state Salmonella Concord outbreak in spring 2019.