Label Limbo
FDA to suspend new label enforcement.
Although January 1, 2021, is the deadline for all food companies to display the new Nutrition and Supplement Facts label on their products, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced that, in the face of the pandemic, it will not enforce this label requirement for producers with less than $10 million in annual food sales during the 2021 calendar year.
The goal is to let these smaller-scale manufacturers focus more intently on getting food into the hands of consumers instead of fretting about meeting a labeling deadline. However, many companies, both large and small, are already displaying the new Nutrition Facts label, which (among other things) more prominently displays total calories in a serving and per-serving grams of added sugar.
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.