FDA Uses Q&A, Graphics to Clarify FSMA Menu Labeling Guidance
Source: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released the draft guidance Menu Labeling: Supplemental Guidance for Industry. It addresses comments the agency received on the May 2017 interim final rule extending the compliance date for the Menu Labeling Final Rule from May 5, 2017, to May 7, 2018. The FDA has been working hard to address industry and other concerns through the least burdensome route and believe that is through guidance.
The question-and-answer style draft guidance features approximately 20 different graphics to illustrate the agency’s new and expanded interpretations of the menu labeling provisions and practical ways for industry to comply with these provisions. It addresses concerns some stakeholders have raised including: calorie disclosure for self-service foods, such as buffets and grab-and-go foods; accounting for the natural variation of foods; compliance and enforcement of the rule; criteria for covered establishments; determining standard menu items; criteria for distinguishing between menus and other information presented to the consumer, like marketing materials; various methods for providing calorie disclosure information on foods such as pizza.