What's new on nutrition labeling at the United States Food and Drug Administration?

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The manuscript provides an overview of food labeling activities of the United States (USA) Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Highlights include: • FDA will proceed with final rulemaking on trans fatty acid labeling after review of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Macronutrient Report. • FDA, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Health Canada are funding a 24-month NAS study on Dietary Reference Intakes in Nutrition Labeling to provide information that can be considered in the development of reference values for labeling in the USA and Canada. • In March of 2002, FDA published a rule that proposes to amend the regulations to update the names and nutrition labeling values of the 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits, vegetables, and fish in the USA and to revise the guidelines for the voluntary nutrition labeling of these raw foods. • For over 20 years, FDA has used the Food Label and Package Survey (FLAPS) to monitor the industry response to food label regulations. FLAPS is the only large-scale USA survey that routinely reviews food label information representative of the nation's food supply. • Nutrition labeling databases are collections of nutrient data for specific products or commodities used to support nutrition label values. While selection of the source of the data used to calculate nutrition labeling values is the prerogative of the manufacturer, FDA recommends that the nutrient values for nutrition labeling be based on product composition as determined by laboratory analysis. Restaurants using claims must provide nutrition information relevant to the claim and may determine nutrient levels by nutrient databases, cookbooks, analyses, and by other reasonable bases that provide assurance that the food or meal meets the nutrient requirements for a claim.