Skip to Content

Notice

You may be interested in this newer document that published on 03/02/2018 with action 'Notification of availability.'
View Document

Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products for Each Product Category; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability

A Notice by the Food and Drug Administration on 01/05/2017

  • PDF
  • Document Details
  • Document Dates
  • Table of Contents
  • Related Documents
  • Public Comments
  • Regulations.gov Data
  • Sharing
  • Print
  • Document Statistics
  • Other Formats
  • Public Inspection
Published Document: 2016-32006 (82 FR 1344)

This document has been published in the Federal Register. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.

Document Headings

Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following:

  1. the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
  2. the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to
  3. the agency docket number / agency internal file number
  4. the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions

See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.

Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
  1. [Docket No. FDA-2016-D-4098]

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notification of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products for Each Product Category.” The draft guidance, when finalized, will provide examples of products that belong to product categories included in the tables of Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) per Eating Occasion established in our regulations.

DATES:

Although you can comment on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)), to ensure that we consider your comment on the draft guidance before we begin work on the final version of the guidance, submit either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by March 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

  • Federal eRulemaking Portal:https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
  • If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

  • Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
  • For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2016-D-4098 for “Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products for Each Product Category.” Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

  • Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential ( printed page 1345) with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” We will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/​regulatoryinformation/​dockets/​default.htm.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, 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.

Submit written requests for single copies of the draft guidance to the Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740. Send two self-addressed adhesive labels to assist that office in processing your request. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the draft guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jillonne Kevala, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

We are announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products for Each Product Category.” We are issuing the draft guidance consistent with our good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of the FDA on which products belong to product categories included in the tables of RACCs per Eating Occasion established in § 101.12(b) (21 CFR 101.12(b)). This draft guidance does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternate approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

We intend for this draft guidance, when finalized, to help industry comply with the statutory requirement, under section 403(q)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(1)(A)(i)), that food that is intended for human consumption and offered for sale bear nutrition information that provides a serving size that reflects the amount of food customarily consumed and is expressed in a common household measure that is appropriate to the food. To comply with this requirement, manufacturers must determine and label their food products with the appropriate label serving size based on the amount of the product customarily consumed.

In the Federal Register of May 27, 2016, we issued a final rule entitled “Food Labeling: Serving Sizes of Foods That Can Reasonably Be Consumed At One Eating Occasion; Dual-Column Labeling; Updating, Modifying, and Establishing Certain Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed; Serving Size for Breath Mints; and Technical Amendments” (81 FR 34000). The final rule amends our regulations in § 101.12(b) to update or modify certain pre-existing RACCs, and to establish RACCs for new product categories.

The draft guidance, when finalized, will help manufacturers identify the appropriate food category to which their product belongs, on which information manufacturers will be able to base the label serving size. The RACCs established in § 101.12(b) are divided into two tables: One for infants and young children 1 through 3 years of age, and another for the general food supply ( i.e., individuals four years and older). The draft guidance, when finalized, will provide examples of products that belong to product categories for which a RACC has been established in § 101.12(b). The tables in the draft guidance are not meant to be an all-inclusive list of products that are available on the market for each product category.

II. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the Internet may obtain the draft guidance at either http://www.fda.gov/​FoodGuidances or https://www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA Web site listed in the previous sentence to find the most current version of the guidance.

Dated: December 30, 2016.

Leslie Kux,

Associate Commissioner for Policy.

[FR Doc. 2016-32006 Filed 1-4-17; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4164-01-P

Published Document: 2016-32006 (82 FR 1344)