The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) Section 403(q)(5)(H) (located at 21 USC Section 343(q)(5)(H)) requires certain vending machine operators to provide calorie declarations for certain foods sold in their vending machines.  FDA has previously issued a rule implementing this statutory provision – vending machine operators have until July 26, 2018 to provide the calorie disclosure and they may do so using a Front of Pack (FOP) disclosure using letter size that is at least 50% of the largest printed matter on the label.

On July 12, 2018, FDA proposed a revision to the rule.  In response to concerns expressed by industry, FDA is considering revising the minimum size requirements for the FOP calorie declaration to 150% of the size of the Net Quantity of Contents Declaration.  Other possible revisions considered were to not require a specific size for the declaration or calorie declaration equal to at least 100% of the Net Quantity of Contents Declaration.

FDA also announced that it is extending enforcement discretion regarding type size for the FOP calorie declaration until the rulemaking is complete.  FDA will also push off enforcement of calorie declaration for gum, mints, and roll candy products in packages too small for FOP labeling until at least January 1, 2020 while it considers this issue further.

FDA is accepting comments on the proposed rule until August 13, 2018.