In what could be a preview of one of the hot nutrition topics for this coming year, FDA just released a consumer notice celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Nutrition Facts panel and giving a hint to updates that could be coming for nutrition labeling. When the final rule announcing the Nutrition Facts panel was released on January 6, 1993, the formatting and information of the panel was unlike any other nutrition label. Since then, many countries have mandated nutrition labeling similar to the U.S. Nutrition Facts. The intent of the panel was to provide consumers with consistent information on a variety of nutrients, particularly to help consumers choose lower levels of some nutrients and higher levels of others. The only major change to the Nutrition Facts since it was introduced was the addition of trans fat as a mandatory nutrient in 2003. Possible changes that could be made to nutrition labeling include updated Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC) and serving sizes, more prominence for serving size and calorie content, new mandatory nutrients, and updated Daily Values. Since any changes to the Nutrition Facts panel would affect all packaged foods and beverages, IDFA will definitely be commenting on any proposed changes released this year. I think the big nutrition issues of 2013 probably will be updates to nutrition labeling, proposed nutrition standards for competitive foods in schools and the start of work on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Stay tuned for more on all of these, plus whatever else comes up this year.