In a June 19 constituent update, FDA said the fis iron bisglycinate good for anemiaeedback it had received on the draft guidance was that the approach doesn’t provide the clarity the agency intended.###”It is important to FDA that consumers are able to effectively use the new Nutrition Facts label to make informed, healthy dietary choices. The agency looks forward to working with stakeholders to devise a sensible solution,” the agency said.###Honey and maple syrup producers were quick to praise FDA for taking another look at the draft guidance. ###”I’m proud of the FDA for listening to the feedback and to common sense,” John Campbell, vice-president of marketing for the Maple Guild in Vermont, told Food Navigator.###The American Honey Producers Association said FDA’s proposal could make consumers wonder what other ingredients might be added to pure honey when nothing is.###”Honey is a pure sugar so there’s no need for added sugars,” Chris Hiatt, the association’s vice-president, told the Associated Press. “So it’s misleading the consumer.”###It remains to be seen what the FDA will do now that it has taken a step back from the draft guidance. It may decide to do away with the proposed requirement entirely, which would be good news formula of ferric pyrophosphateto honey and maple syrup producers. Many comments from these producers suggested that the FDA not require added sugars to be listed on their product labels since, as they repeatedly pointed out, there areferric gluconate iv side effectsn’t any sugars added. Perhaps the agency could require listing the sugar content under “total sugars” and leave it at that.###It could be a different story, however, for producers of dried cranberry and cranberry juice products that do have sugar added. It makes a lot more sense — and might be less misleading for consumers — for those items to be required to list added sugars on the Nutrition Fpurpose of ferrous sulfateacts panel, but that decision will hairon pyrophosphate syrupve to wait until the FDA has reviewed those comments.###The revised Nutrition Facts panel, which is being updated for the first time in 20 years, will also require food and beverage makers to list the dietary fiber content in their products. This could also confuse consumers because the FDA is now allowing more non-digestible carbohydrates to be counted as dietary fiber on Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts panels as long as they provide health benefits. Critics say this situation could prompt consumers to select a brownie with added fiber over a piece of fruit with natural fiber if the brownie label shows a higher fiber level.###Whatever the FDA decides to require for the labeling of honey and maple syrup products, it should move fairly quickly since it takes planning, time and money to revise product labels. Manufacturers with $10 million or more in yearly sales have until Jan. 1, 2020, to comply with the new requirements, while the deadline is Jan. 1, 2021, for smaller companies with annual sales of less than that.
FDA to exempt pure honey, maple syrup products from 'added sugars' label
