Volume 16, Number
11 - November 2016
Hello from Food Label News!
As the holidays approach and we indulge with a bit of added
sugar in our diets, read about the topic of added sugars and
the new % Daily Value (DV), Part 6 of our New Nutrition
Label Series. If you missed any of the series, be sure to
view past articles to understand the new food label
regulations and why they matter to you. You can also stay
informed through the
Food Label Community on LinkedIn.
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Understanding Added Sugar and New
%DV:
Part 6, New Nutrition Label Series
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines released earlier this year set
the stage for additional labeling requirements for food
manufacturers with regard to added sugars content. The
Dietary Guidelines advise healthy Americans to limit added
sugars to less than 10% of total calories.
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Currently, consumers get
about 13% of their total calories from added sugars. The major sources
include:
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Sugar sweetened beverages - soft drinks, fruit drinks, coffee
and tea, sport and energy drinks, and alcoholic beverages. |
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Snacks and sweets – grain-based desserts, dairy desserts,
candies, sugars, jams, syrups and sweet toppings. |
It's not surprising therefore, that FDA's new nutrition labeling regulations released
in May require added sugars to be included in the Nutrition
Facts label along with a Daily Reference Value of 50g (i.e., 10%
of a 2,000 calorie diet).
Key points to consider when declaring added sugars: |
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Only some sugars count as "added
sugars." Added sugars includes free, mono- and disaccharides,
syrups, honey, concentrated fruit or vegetable juice (in excess
of the sugar that would be expected from the same volume of 100
percent juice). |
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There are exceptions to the above
including: concentrated juices sold to consumers (e.g., frozen
100% fruit juice concentrate), juice concentrates used to
achieve a total percentage juice declaration or Brix
standardization, fruit components of jellies, jams, preserves
and fruit spreads. |
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Laboratory nutrition analysis
cannot be used to determine added sugar content as "added
sugars" and naturally occurring sugars are not chemically
different. |
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A new recordkeeping requirement
documents added sugars for formulated foods that contain both
added and naturally occurring sugars. |
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Check out our easy-to-understand,
quick reference to help
you understand the nuances.
Next month we continue with Part 7: Understanding Fiber and its New
Definition. To read
previous articles in the series:
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4 or
Part 5. |
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The requirement to declare "added sugars" is not as
straightforward as many other parts of the new food label regulations. For
example, dried fruits are not considered added sugars whereas
concentrated fruit or vegetable purees and pastes are not specified in
the regulations. FDA recognizes this confusion and intends to issue
guidance documents later this year or the beginning of 2017.
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What's
News in the Food Label
Community
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Reader
Q&A
Find
answers to our readers'
questions or send us
your question for an
upcoming issue.
Q. |
If I'm using a natural caramel flavor for a muffin I'd
like to call a "Caramel Muffin", how do I indicate on
the front of the package that it's flavored and not
formulated with actual caramel?
− K.D., New York, Food Manufacturer
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A. |
When natural flavor is used in a formula instead of the
actual ingredient that the flavor is derived from, the
product must be labeled as "naturally flavored" or
"flavored" immediately adjacent to the actual
ingredient. Therefore, in your example, the product must
be called "caramel flavored muffin" and simply "caramel
muffin" is not acceptable. This requirement applies to
every location where the flavor name is listed on the
package (other than the ingredient list).
Read more. |
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What Matters in Food Labeling
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