IDFA learned last week that the Food and Drug Administration will likely extend the compliance date for updates to the Nutrition Facts label to January 2020 and is preparing guidance documents to release before 2018. To better help companies navigate FDA's complex labeling rules and evolving implementation timetable, IDFA is offering its popular webinar, “Introduction to Dairy Product Labeling,” Nov. 28 and 29.

Delivered in two sessions, the webinar will run each day from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. It will provide important details on FDA’s regulations revising the Nutrition Facts label and food serving sizes. IDFA subject matter experts will answer questions about producing compliant and effective product labels.

“We’ve heard many questions from members about added sugars, what needs to be declared and the recordkeeping that is required to support these declarations,” said Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs and presenter of the webinar. “We plan to cover these topics in an interactive format to provide attendees with specific advice.”

Michelle Matto, IDFA’s nutrition and labeling consultant, will join Frye in presenting webinar sessions on both days.

Sessions

Labeling 101 

The Nov. 28 session will include an initial overview of dairy labeling regulations. It will provide the history and jurisdiction for labeling regulations; requirements for the statement of identity, including flavor labeling and net quantity of contents statements; and ingredient declarations, including allergens and other labeling terms, such as Grade A, Kosher and the Real Seal. It will also cover lactose-free, gluten-free and natural claims.

New Nutrition Labeling Regulations and Claims

The Nov. 29 session will cover the basics of nutrition labeling based on FDA’s new regulations, including various nutrition facts formats, new dual column labeling and revisions to the required and voluntary nutrients. It will explain the changes for declaring added sugars and dietary fiber. We will also review how to determine revised serving sizes for ice cream, yogurt and some beverages. It will also address marketing claims that include nutrient content claims such as “reduced sugar,” “lower sodium” and “high protein.”

For more information about labeling compliance and claims, contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org or visit IDFA’s issue page for Nutrition Facts Label Changes. Members may log in for full details.

Register online for the webinar series today. IDFA invites to attend all dairy company regulatory and labeling staff who deal daily with labeling as well as those who may not deal with labeling on a regular basis, but need to understand labeling regulations.

For more registration information, contact Melissa Lembke, IDFA manager of meetings and educational services, at mlembke@idfa.org.