iOn June 18, 2019, FDA issued a final guidance to provide clarity on the labeling of added sugars for single-ingredient packages or containers of pure honey, maple syrup and other single ingredient sugars and syrups as a result of a requirement contained in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334), known as the “Farm Bill.” We reported on the draft guidance and comments submitted on the draft guidance here.
Single-ingredient products, such as pure honey and maple sugar, are not required to declare the number of grams of added sugars in a serving of the product on the Nutrition Facts label but must still include the percent Daily Value (DV) for added sugars. In the guidance, FDA states its intent to exercise enforcement discretion by permitting the use of the “†” symbol immediately following the added sugars percent DV declaration, which leads to a footnote inside the Nutrition Facts label explaining the amount of added sugars that one serving of the product contributes to the diet as well as the contribution of a serving of the product toward the percent DV for added sugars.
With respect to certain dried cranberry products and cranberry beverage products, these products must still declare added sugars in grams and declare the percent Daily Value for added sugars. However, in the guidance, FDA states its intent to exercise enforcement discretion by allowing the use of a symbol immediately following the added sugars percent Daily Value declaration leading to a statement outside the Nutrition Facts label explaining that sugars are added to improve the palatability of naturally tart cranberries.
Overall, FDA is giving manufacturers of single-ingredient packages/containers of pure honey, maple syrup, other pure sugars and syrups, and cranberry products enforcement discretion until July 1, 2021, to comply with the new nutrition labeling requirements. FDA states that the extra 6 months is needed to give these manufacturers additional time to make label changes consistent with the Farm Bill and this final guidance.
