FDA announced that, during the first six months following the general January 1, 2020, compliance date for the new nutrition labeling regulations for conventional foods and dietary supplements, it plans to work cooperatively with manufacturers to meet the new requirements and will not focus on enforcement actions during that time. Note that manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales already had an extra year to comply – until January 1, 2021.

AHPA joined 12 leading trade associations in late September to advocate FDA to provide this flexibility in its enforcement of the new nutrition labeling rules. FDA indicated that it received multiple requests from manufacturers and industry groups to provide additional time to comply with the new requirements and plans to work cooperatively with manufacturers over the first six months to help address the industry concerns it received. The agency added a new Question and Answer to its website to inform industry of its intentions to use enforcement discretion.

FDA stressed that it is available to assist the industry in understanding and complying with the required changes and manufacturers can contact the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Outreach and Information Center with any questions.

AHPA has also produced resources, including a webinar presented on Oct. 29 and an updated version of its guidance document on dietary supplement labeling requirements, to help members understand and comply with the new labeling requirements.