2014 ins and outs of food labeling

 NLEA:  Requires most foods to bear nutrition labeling  Assists the Food and Drug Administration FDA in assuring all foods sold in the U.S..  These exemptions apply only if no nutr

The Ins and Outs of Food Labeling (Part

One)

This module is adapted from:

the FDA Food Labeling Guide, www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/flg-toc.html

Module designed by Tera Sandvik, LRD, Program Coordinator; Julie Garden-Robinson, PhD, LRD, Food and Nutrition Specialist; and Tami Totland, RD, Program Assistant; Module updated May 2014 by Kim Beauchamp, Food Safety/Food Entrepreneur Extension Specialist

2014

The following tips will help you navigate through each module.

 Click the left mouse button or the down arrow

to continue on to the next bullet or slide.

 Before you begin, you’ll take a presurvey

 The presurvey will open in a new window

 When you are finished with the presurvey close the window

to return to the module.

 A symbolizes a question slide You’ll need

to click your mouse once to see the answer

 A means you’ll need to go to the site listed to answer the question

 After visiting the site, close the Internet browser to return to the module

 Click your mouse once to see the answer.

 When you are finished with the module, you will take a post-survey.

 The post-survey will open in a new window

 When you are finished with the post-survey, close the window to return to the module.

 This module provides basic information about food

labeling When you have

completed this module, you should have a general

knowledge of the basic rules and regulations associated with food labeling

History of Food Labels

 In November 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) became federal law

 NLEA:

 Requires most foods to bear nutrition labeling

 Assists the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in

assuring all foods sold in the U.S are safe, wholesome and correctly labeled

 Regulates the labeling of nutrient content and health claims

 Title 21 covers FDA regulations on food and drugs

 The CFR can be accessed via the Internet at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisi dx_09/21cfr101_09.html

The function(s) of NLEA

include:

A. Requiring most foods to bear nutrition labels

B. Assisting the FDA in assuring foods are safe,

wholesome and correctly labeled prior to

consumption

C. Regulating nutrient content and health claims on

food products

D. All of the above

If you chose “D,” you were correct

NLEA provides all of the services

listed above.

Click to see the answer.

Where can the latest FDA and USDA regulations be found?

A. The Department of Education

B. The Department of Commerce

C. The Code of Federal Regulations

D. None of the above

If you chose “C,” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

Does your

business qualify

 Certain small businesses and businesses meeting other specific criteria are excused from nutrition labeling

 These exemptions apply only if no

nutrition claim or information is on the

product packaging or in advertising

Foods Under FDA

FDA Small-business

Exemptions

 If you qualify for the FDA small-business

exemption and plan to utilize the small-business exemption, your business must file an annual

notice with the FDA

 If your product or business surpasses the

following criteria, the exemption will expire within

18 months from that date

If you answer “yes” to one of the following you qualify for the FDA small-business exemption.

 In my most recent two-year average, my annual gross sales to consumers equals less than

$500,000 or my annual gross sales of only food

to consumers equals less than $50,000

 My business employs fewer than 100 employees

(based on the average FTEs) and has product*

sales of less than 100,000 units** for each

Other FDA Exemptions

If you answer “TRUE” to any of the following

statements for your business, you may be excused from nutrition labeling.

 I manufacture a food product that contains insignificant

amounts of all mandatory nutrients (e.g plain coffee or tea, some spices).

 My business manufactures restaurant and food service foods sold for immediate consumption.

 The food my business produces is ready to eat, prepared

largely on-site and is not sold outside of that location (e.g

deli or bakery foods).

 My business manufactures foods that will be further

processed, packed or labeled at another location.

Julie’s Coffee

FDA Exemptions Cont.

 My food product is packaged with less than 12

spare inches of labeling area and no nutrition claim

is made on the product On the packaging, I have provided an address or telephone number where consumers can obtain nutrition information

 My business manufactures properly labeled

multiunit containers, which consist of unlabeled

individual units The individual units indicate they are not labeled for retail sale

 My business sells foods from bulk containers The bulk containers are properly labeled

FDA Exemptions Cont.

 My business manufactures or sells

single-ingredient fish or game

meats.

 I produce infant foods, formula or

medical foods (subject to separate

regulations).

 The food(s) my business sells are

among the 20 most commonly

consumed raw fruits, vegetables

and fish (subject to voluntary

regulations).

USDA Regulations

 The USDA oversees all domestic and imported

meat and poultry and related products (e.g meat

or poultry-containing stews, pizzas and frozen

foods) Also under USDA control are processed

egg products

 If you answer yes to the following statements,

you are excused from labeling requirements

USDA Exemptions

 The food(s) my business produces are raw,

single-ingredient meat and poultry products (e.g ground beef, chicken breasts), which are subject

USDA Exemptions Cont.

 My food product is packaged with less than 12 spare inches of labeling area and no nutrition claim is made

 ready to eat and are packaged or portioned at retail

 Multi-ingredient products processed at a retail store

 restaurant or food service foods

USDA Exemptions Cont.

 My business produces a product that

weighs less than ½ ounce net weight

If you voluntarily provide a nutrition label or health claim, the exemptions listed above no longer will apply and you will need to meet all labeling

requirements.

A business qualifies for a

If you chose “D,” you are correct

Click to see the answer.

What must be provided on the label of a food product with less than 12 square

inches of labeling area?

A. Address

B. Fax number

C. Web site address

D. No information is required

E. All are required

If you chose “A,” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

True or False: A business that

meets the criteria for an FDA

or USDA exemption, but

voluntarily decides to print a

nutrition claim of the

product, still is eligible to

claim the exemption

The correct answer is “False.”

Click to see the answer.

Principle Display Panel

height by the circumference

 The PDP must include two pieces of information:

 Statement of identity, or name of food

 Net quantity statement, or amount of product

PDP Display

How can consumers identify the PDP surface of a food

package?

A. The PDP surface is adjacent to the front of the

package

B. The PDP surface is the portion of the package

most likely to be seen at the point of purchase

C. The PDP surface may be located at the bottom

or top of a food package

D. None of the above

If you chose “B,” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

What two pieces of

information must

the PDP include?

A. Product identity and Nutrition Facts

B. Net weight and ingredient statement

C. Nutrition Facts and place of business

D. Product identity and net weight

If you chose “D.” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

 The product identity is required in the middle

portion of the PDP’s front label

 It should be dominant and stand out from all other print and pictures on the package.

Statement of Identity Example

What would the statement of identity

If you chose “A,” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

Net Quantity Statement

 This statement provides the amount of food in the container or package

 Located in the lower 30 percent of the PDP

 Often at the lower right corner of the front label

 Only the quantity of food in the package is stated in the net quantity statement

 The weight of the container, wrapping and packing material may not be included.

 The net weight or volume must be listed in both the U.S scale and metric scale

Net Quantity Statement Example

Which of these is a correct version of

If you chose “A,” you were correct

Click to see the answer.

Information Panel

 The information panel is the surface area normally

to the right of the PDP

 This would be the label on the right side of the box

 The information label on a jar would be directly to the right of the PDP

 On the information panel, we find:

 Nutrition Facts

 Ingredient statement

 Place of business

Information Panel

 Let’s see what you’ve learned

 Click here to begin the post-survey.