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FDA Nutrition Labeling: Exemptions

(from FDA webpagehttp://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/foodlabel/newlabel.html#panel)

_Under the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA), some foods are exempt from nutrition labeling.These include:

• food served for immediate consumption, such as that served in hospital cafeterias and airplanes, and that sold by food
• service vendorsfor example, mall cookie counters, sidewalk vendors, and vending machines
• ready-to-eat food that is not for immediate consumption but is prepared primarily on sitefor example:
• bakery, deli, and candy store items
• food shipped in bulk, as long as it is not for sale in that form to consumers
• medical foods, such as those used to address the nutritional needs of patients with certain diseases
• plain coffee and tea, some spices, and other foods that contain no significant amounts of any nutrients.

Food produced by small businesses also is exempt, under 1993 amendments to NLEA. The NLEA amendments provide for a system in which exemptions are based on he number of people a company employs and the number of units within a product line it makes yearly.

Under this system, the allowances for each factor are gradually lowered. Between May 9, 1995, and May 8, 1996, a food is exempt from nutrition labeling if the company whose name appears on the label employs fewer than 300 full-time equivalent employees and makes fewer than 400,000 units of the product yearly. After May 1997, only businesses with fewer than 100 full-time equivalent employees producing fewer than 100,000 units within a product line for U.S. distribution can qualify for an exemption.

Almost all companies seeking an exemption will have to notify FDA that they meet the criteria. Those that do not have to notify FDA are U.S. firms with fewer than 10 employees making fewer than 10,000 units of a food in a year.

Although these foods are exempt, they are free to carry nutrition information,

Also, they will lose their exemption if their labels carry a nutrient content or health claim or any other nutritioninformation.

when appropriateas long as it complies with the new regulations. Also, they will lose their exemption if their labels carry a nutrient content or health claim or any other nutrition information.

Nutrition information about game meatssuch as deer, bison, rabbit, quail, wild turkey, and ostrichis not required on individual packages. Instead, it can be given on counter cards, signs, or other point-of-purchase mate rials. Because few nutrient data exist for these foods, FDA believes that allowing this option will enable game meat producers to give first priority to collecting appropriate data and make it easier for them to update the information as it becomes available.

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