FDA Proposes Front-of-Packaging Labeling Mandate

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In the waning days of the Biden Administration, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a sweeping new rule that would mandate front-of-label (FOP) disclosures of certain nutrients on most packaged foods regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). For products made by brewers, the FDA’s primary labeling authority covers fermented sugar hard seltzer products, as well as wines below 7% alcohol by volume, a category that includes most hard cider products. The Brewers Association (BA) plans to monitor the rulemaking and submit comments aimed at protecting the interests of small and independent brewers.

Under the proposal, most packaged foods would bear a new “Nutrition Info box” on the front of its label. The Nutrition Info box would appear in the upper one-third of the label (the “Principal Display Panel” in FDA nomenclature). The proposed regulations include special rules for foods packaged in sealed packages containing several different products (e.g., sealed mix packs).

The Nutrition Info box would provide information on the percentage of the recommended daily values per serving for:

  • Saturated Fat
  • Sodium
  • Added Sugars

In addition to showing the percentage daily value, the Nutrition Info box would characterize each measure as low, medium, or high. The proposed regulations include standards for when a food or beverage is low, medium, or high in one of the three nutritional categories.

The proposed regulations contain a myriad of exemptions and special rules. Most notable in the case of fermented sugar hard seltzer and low-alcohol wine products are:

  1. Food whose packaging has a total surface area of 40 or fewer square inches (likely the case for most bottles or cans of hard seltzer or hard cider) may display a truncated Nutrition Info box that omits the percentage daily value number and instead simply states that saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars are low, medium, or high.
  1. Food whose packaging has a total surface area of 12 or fewer square inches (likely the case for very small containers but not 12-ounce bottles or cans) would not need to bear the Nutrition Info box on each individual container.
  1. Food sold in bulk containers must bear a Nutrition Info box that is visible to consumers at the point of purchase. This might be interpreted as requiring a consumer-visible Nutrition Info box on or near draught lines, although the FDA’s rulemaking notice does not appear to specifically address the application of its rule to products dispensed in kegs.
  1. Foods packaged by retailers with total gross sales below $500,000 annually, or less than $50,000 on total food sales annually are exempt. This provision could exempt the packaged products of smaller brewpubs and taprooms.
  1. Foods packaged in volumes of less than 100,000 units per year and made by enterprises employing fewer than 100 full time equivalent employees during the year are exempt from the Nutrient Info box requirement. This provision could exempt the packaged products of smaller breweries.

The public and the industry will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations, with a comment deadline of May 16, 2025. The FDA might extend this deadline at a future date. If finalized, the regulations would allow entities with $10 million or more in food sales three years to comply with the new mandate, while smaller entities would have four years to bring labels into compliance.

The position of the new Trump Administration on the FDA’s proposal are still unclear. Several Trump Administration appointees, however, have expressed a desire to tackle U.S. health issues through nutrition, an approach that seems to align with the FDA’s FOP labeling proposal.

The Brewers Association will comment on this FDA rulemaking project, as it would impact many members producing fermented hard seltzers and low-alcohol wine products like hard cider. We will work to ensure that the voices of small and independent brewers are heard.

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