FDA Human Foods Program Updates 2026 Guidance Agenda to Include ‘Healthy’ Claim, Caffeine Labeling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Human Foods Program (HFP) has published its updated guidance agenda for 2026, which lists topics that the program is considering for possible guidance documents or revisions to existing guidance documents.
FDA intends to develop guidance on each topic, with the goal of publishing draft or final guidances by the end of 2026; however, HFP is neither bound by the list of topics, nor required to issue every guidance document on this list. Several factors may impact FDA’s ability to issue the listed guidances, including, for example, new Administration priorities, emerging public health issues, or other extenuating circumstances.
The guidance agenda topics are divided across HFP’s three core risk pillars: Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation; Microbiological Food Safety; and Nutrition.
New Items on Updated 2026 Guidance Agenda
New topics added to the updated 2026 guidance agenda include:
- Labeling Caffeine Content in Foods and Beverages; Draft Guidance for Industry (Nutrition)
- Questions and Answers Regarding Use of the ‘Healthy’ Claim (Nutrition)
- Necessity of the Use of Food Product Categories in Food Facility Registrations and Updates to Food Product Categories: Guidance for Industry (Microbiological Food Safety).
Complete 2026 Guidance Agenda
The complete list of topics on FDA’s HFP’s 2026 guidance agenda is as follows:
Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation:
- Action Levels for Cadmium in Processed Food Intended for Babies and Young Children; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Action Levels for Inorganic Arsenic in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Action Level for Opiate Alkaloids on Poppy Seeds; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Fruit Juice and Vegetable Juice as Color Additives in Food; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food; Chapter 12: Preventive Controls for Chemical Hazards; Draft Guidance for Industry
- New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) Notifications and Related Issues: Identity and Safety Information About the NDI; Guidance for Industry.
Microbiological Food Safety:
- Preventing Contamination of Low-Moisture Ready-to-Eat Human Foods and Remediating a Pathogen Contamination Event if Prevention Fails; Revised Draft Guidance for Industry
- Guide to Minimize Biological Hazards in Ready-to-Eat Fresh-Cut Produce; Guidance for Industry
- Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food: Chapter 10: Sanitation Program; Draft Guidance for Industry
- The Accredited Third-Party Certification Program: Questions and Answers; Guidance for Industry
- Necessity of the Use of Food Product Categories in Food Facility Registrations and Updates to Food Product Categories: Guidance for Industry.
Nutrition:
- Compliance Policy Guide for Determining the Identity, Quality, and Purity of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil Products; Draft Guidance for FDA Staff
- Food Labeling for Online Grocery Shopping Platforms; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Labeling Caffeine Content in Foods and Beverages; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Questions and Answers Regarding Use of the “Healthy” Claim.
More Information for Stakeholders
Public comments on the list of human food and cosmetic guidance topics, including suggestions for alternatives or recommendations on the topics FDA is considering, can be submitted to www.regulations.gov under Docket FDA-2022-D-2088.
Most proposed and final rules can be found on the “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions,” which reports planned actions by federal departments and agencies governmentwide and is published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). A list of those FDA regulations and guidance documents under administration review is available on the OMB website.
Looking for quick answers on food safety topics?
Try Ask FSM, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask FSM →
