FMI Statement on FDA Proposed Rule on Front-of-Package Labeling

Arlington, VA – Today, FMI – The Food Industry Association Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher offered the following statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed rule on mandatory front-of-package (FOP) requirements.

“FMI – The Food Industry Association shares FDA’s goals of reducing diet-related chronic diseases, prioritizing nutrition activities and empowering consumers with information to make healthier choices. It is critical that this is done in a way that minimizes unnecessary costs while providing consumers with clear, consistent and science-based nutrition information.

“As the co-creator of the Facts Up Front (FUF) program – a voluntary labeling program designed to highlight key product information like calories, saturated fat, sodium, added sugars and nutrients to encourage like fiber and calcium − FMI believes it is the best suited scheme with clear facts to help consumers make informed choices based on their personal needs. Given that consumers are already familiar with the FUF icons on well-over 200,000 products, we are disappointed that it was not selected as part of FDA’s proposed rule.

“While we are continuing to review the specifics of the proposed rule, we are concerned that the FOP scheme would be required to appear on the upper third of the principal display panel. This would require a redesign of most packaging labels and displace other important information like date labels, leading to significant cost increases with limited corresponding benefit to public health.

“We also believe that reducing a food’s entire dietary contribution to whether it is low, medium or high in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar is overly simplistic and will not help educate consumers on how to improve their overall dietary pattern. However, we are pleased to see that the agency allowed for the inclusion of calories alongside the FOP label. We also appreciate the agency’s decision to maintain a black and white FOP labeling scheme and to include at least some quantitative values.

“FMI looks forward to providing comments to FDA expressing our continued commitment to providing consumers with useful information to help them make informed decisions without unnecessarily increasing food costs for consumers.”