FDA Announces “Nutrition Action Plan” while Stakeholders await Final Guidance on Nutrition Labeling

As we near the two year mark since FDA issued the new Nutrition Facts Label (NFL), stakeholders anxiously await FDA’s final NFL guidance, particularly FDA’s conclusions on the pending fiber petitions and other fiber ingredients. Although FDA proposed last fall to extend the July 26, 2018 compliance date until January 1, 2020 (for large companies and January 1, 2021 for small companies), FDA has not issued a final decision. Until then, the compliance date remains a little over six months away. For several industry sectors, however, the ability to move forward on what must and must not be included in the amount declared on the NFL as dietary fiber remains unclear and continues to be a challenge for many companies.