As previously covered on this blog, in May 2016, FDA issued final rules to implement changes to the nutrition and dietary supplement labeling and serving size regulations. Mandatory compliance with the new nutrition labeling requirements for food products that are initially introduced into interstate commerce is currently slated for July 26, 2018 (or July 26, 2019 for manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales).  As the compliance deadline steadily approaches, some in the industry have sought to delay the rule’s implementation.  And, as reported on this blog last week, Scott Gottlieb, President Trump’s nominee to head the FDA has expressed a willingness to consider postponing the deadline for implementing the Nutrition Facts Panel label changes.

Against this backdrop, Susan Mayne of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition recently announced that FDA is considering requests to maintain the schedule for revamping the Nutrition Facts Label and requests to delay its implementation and coordinate it with USDA’s forthcoming mandatory disclosure requirements for bioengineered foods.

With much of the industry and President Trump’s nominee to head the FDA aligned on this issue, a delay to the scheduled implementation of the Nutrition Facts label changes seems increasingly possible if not likely.