Food
FDA Announces Availability of Comments on Symbols Public Hearing
April 28, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the agency) has developed a document discussing the information provided at the September 2007 Public Hearing on the Use of Symbols to Communicate Nutrition Information, Consideration of Consumer Studies and Nutritional Criteria. The document provides the agency's remarks on the comments submitted and presented by participants of the public hearing. The document also describes the current activities and plans of the agency in the evaluation of the use of front-of-pack nutrition symbols.
The purpose of the 2007 hearing was for FDA to solicit information and comments from interested persons and organizations regarding the use of symbols to communicate nutrition information on food labels. The public hearing notice outlined three main issues and posed questions for each of these issues. The first issue was concerned with the types of foods that bear nutrition symbols and the nutrient requirements for those symbols. The second issue was concerned with consumer understanding and use of nutrition symbols. The third issue was concerned with the economic impacts of nutrition symbols on food labels.
For access to the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, FDA-2007-N-0198, into the "Search" box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.