The publication of the new final guidance for industry was recently announced by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): A Labeling Guide for Restaurants and Retail Establishments Selling Away-From-Home Foods.
This guidance is proposed to be a resource for organizations to help them comply with the menu labeling final rule. It also answers numerous inquiries the FDA has handled recent. It varies from the draft guidance by giving extra case providing additional examples and new or amended questions and answers on topics, like covered establishments, alcoholic beverages, catered events, mobile vendors, grab-and-go items, and record keeping requirements.
The FDA is devoted to working flexibly and helpfully with establishments covered by the menu labeling final rule and to providing educational and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal administrative partners to support consistent compliance across the country. After the arrival of the guidance, the agency continue conducting online classes and will hold menu labelling workshops that focus on specific stakeholder needs. The FDA will announce more data about these workshops at a later date. Covered establishments can send questions on menu labelling requirements to CalorieLabeling@fda.hhs.gov.
Implementation of the menu labelling final rule will start one year from the date it is published in the Federal Register. That date is planned for some time in the month of May 2016.
