FDA gets tough on labelling

30 March 2010

If you are exporting food, drink or pharmaceutical products to the USA, it would be advisable to ‘wise up’ about the tough new measures surrounding labelling issues.

Last month, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Margaret Hamburg issued a press release announcing a major and broad initiative to increase FDA enforcement against illegal claims on food labelling, including nutrient content claims, and all drug and disease claims. The FDA is also commited to cracking down on technical violations on both the front of package labelling and on nutrition facts panels.

FDAImports.com, an FDA consulting practice owned by Benjamin England, is a rich source of information on import regulations. Mr England, who has 20 years’ experience in FDA labelling compliance, believes that this is the beginning of a major effort to stop imported foods, beverages and dietary supplements in their tracks before they are able to reach US consumers. “The easiest violation for FDA to find is a labelling violation,” he says. “FDA does not have to test the product to find the problem. The inspector just looks at the label.”

The FDA seems particularly focused on food labels that bear false or misleading claims about fat content in foods, which are a type of nutrient content claim, says Mr England. These content claims dominated ‘warning letters’ sent to various companies recently, including Nestlé, Gorton’s and Spectrum Organic Products. In these letters, there were allegations that well known food and beverage companies and distributors were improperly using words such as ‘light’, ‘cholesterol-free’, ‘plus’ and ‘good source’ on food labels without meeting the strict regulatory criteria that apply to such claims. It even attacked ‘antioxidant’ claims, as it amounts to an implied nutrient content claim in the opinion of the FDA.

The rules and regulations governing health claims and nutrient labelling are complex and technical. Claims that purport that a food can treat, prevent, or cure a disease are strictly prohibited on all food labelling, except for certain medical foods.

More resources have been thrown at this stricter approach. An ‘Import Food Safety Center’ has been opened in Washington, which was recommended by President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group. It is lauded as ‘a giant step toward improving food safety’.

When the FDA finds illegal food label claims on imported foods, the FDA may (or may not) give the foreign manufacturer warning before placing the food or the foreign manufacturer on FDA Import Alert. Being on an Import Alert creates a significant trade barrier for foreign food, beverage and dietary supplement manufacturers and exporters.

Detentions, refusals and import alerts are reportedly skyrocketing, but, according to Mr England, “Labelling violations can all be avoided by getting the labelling right.”

Maureen Byrne

Editor


Maureen Byrne



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