Regulations For Labeling Of Ready-To-Eat-Foods

Houston - As part of Industrial Information Resources coverage of the Food & Beverage Industry, this report provides a brief summary of food labeling regulations that are issued by the Food and Drug Administration. There has been considerable controversy over what has to be (or what cannot be) on the label. A particular point of contention is: what health claims can be claimed for an individual product? Examples are calcium and osteoporosis, sodium and hypertension, and fiber content and cancer. This report only covers the highlights of food labeling.

Labeling regulations are covered under Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Food and Drugs, Title 21, Part 101 and Subsections 54-108. Looking at the label of a typical grocery product, we see the information that must be provided and referenced regulation: identity and places of manufacture (Subsection 101.5), net contents (101.5), and ingredients listed in order of quantity (101.4). On this label we see no special claims for health. However, there are 14 regulations specifing which health claims are permitted, or not permitted.

On all labels a panel must be displayed titled "Nutrition Facts." Click on the image at right to view a sample of a nutrition facts label.

It is mandatory that nutrient content for the ingredient types shown above be displayed in "Nutrition Facts." Data for nutrient content is obtained by analytical procedures developed by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). There are hundreds of tests published in the AOAC Handbook. Whichever one is applicable is used, all depending on the type of foodstuff. Shown below are the types of tests that are used.

Calories – heat of combustion (bomb calorimetry). Protein – measure of total nitrogen content. Cholesterol – gas chromatography. Vitamins – liquid chromatography. Sodium – emission spectroscopy. Fats – solvent extraction. Carbohydrates – obtained by difference between total sample weight and nutrient content and ash.

The larger food companies do their own analysis and have them checked by outside laboratories. Smaller food companies outsource to outside laboratories. A full test costs about $600 but multiple tests from sampling of different batches are needed for accuracy.

SOURCE: Industrial Information Resources (IIR)