New FDA rule allows "per day" supplement labeling option
manufacturers the option to issue nutrition label information on a
'per day' basis, as a voluntary option in addition to the mandatory
'per serving' information.
Effective immediately, the regulation refers to the Daily Value amount on labels of supplements that are to be consumed more than once per day. The rule was first proposed in 1998 and the final version is published in FDA's Federal Register.
The new option, which is the result of a petition, is intended to give supplement manufacturers the choice to label their products in a way that could be clearer for consumers.
"Consumers may want information on the amount of nutrition provided by dietary supplements on a 'per day' basis," reads the rule in FDA's Federal Register. "Without this rule, manufacturers are precluded from providing consumers with that information in the Supplement Facts label of their dietary supplements."
The supplement industry is governed by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which is part of the Food and Cosmetics Act.
"When provided, 'per day' information about a dietary supplement can assist consumers in making dietary choices about total consumption of dietary ingredients," writes FDA in the Federal Register.
The Nutrilite Division of the Amway Corporation originally petitioned FDA in 1998.
While high numbers of consumers are reported to read food labels and nutrition guidelines as diet information sources, there has been a strong call for these to be simplified.
A recent study, published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, showed a significant deficiency in the public's understanding of food labels. In the study, poor label comprehension was correlated with low-level literacy and numeracy skills, but even patients with higher literacy could have difficulties interpreting labels.
Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center questioned 200 patients from a wide socioeconomic range. One part of the survey asked participants to interpret food labels for nutrient content by the amount of food consumed. The other part asked patients to choose which foods had more or less of a certain nutrient.
Only 37 percent of patients could calculate the number of carbohydrates consumed from a 20-ounce bottle of soda that contained 2.5 servings. While only 60 percent could calculate carbohydrates consumed if they ate half a bagel, when the serving size was a whole bagel.
The rationale translates to the simplifying supplement labels to make them more understandable to consumers.
