FAQ's... some frequently asked questions include:

Q:  Why do my products need nutrition facts and what is the nutrition labeling law?

A: The Nutrition Labeling Education Act (NLEA) became law in 1993/94 and was enacted to provide consumers with easy to understand information about the foods we eat. Primarily designed to establish a like format for all prepared and packaged food providers, it requires compliance regarding nutrient content and claims, label format, ingredient statements, intake values, and more. Compliance is mandatory, with some exceptions, for most food suppliers, manufacturers, importers, and many food service operations. Additional requirements for trans fatty acids and known food allergens were mandated for inclusion on product labels in 2006. Your wholesale and retail customers want this information as well.    

Q: Are there other regulations we should be aware of?

A: Yes. These may include, in addition to the above, regulations set forth under the Federal Trade Commission, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, USDA, and others including state regulatory agencies. Year 2006 FDA mandated regulations for Trans Fats and Allergens apply as well. While we do not provide legal services we can assist you with all the required elements for your food items and its label compliance.   

Q: What is the Nutrition Facts panel? How do I obtain it?

A: The Nutrition Facts panel is a standardized method of providing consumers with information about selected nutrients content and their dietary value as may be present in your food item. All based on established FDA guidelines. The way to obtain this information is to analyze your product for nutrients present. Two ways to do this include laboratory analysis, an expensive and time consuming process, or, our method, NutriLABEL. This process uses averaged database analysis methods and is fast, easy, and low-cost. This method provides the data required to develop your Nutrition Facts panel (based on FDA regulations) that you can supply to your package designer or printer. We even supply the custom designed camera-ready scan capable or digital art work panels sized specifically for your products type, size, contents, and package.   

Q: Are exemptions available?

A: Yes, there are a few. These are based on certain container types, certain food groups, on-site sales lacking nutrient content claims, etc. We can assist you. Some small businesses may be exempt. But that may require an exemption application with the FDA. All packaged food products benefit from having this knowledge, especially if you want to place them in the mainstream marketplace or sell to nutrition and health conscious buyers. Remember though, any item making nutrient or health claims is not exempt. We can help you every step of the way.    

Q: What is the appropriate serving size and number of servings for my product?

A: This information is determined per regulations in a three-step process which we perform as part of our service.  

Q: Do you help with "food categories" and their "reference amounts"? It seems confusing. 

A:  While it may seem confusing, what with hundreds of pages of regulations, our service takes care of this and all of the other details for you, and makes it easy to understand as well.   

Q: What about a "Low Fat" claim we would like to make?

A: This and other types of label content declarations are referred to as nutrient content claims, and are any claims that directly or by implication characterizes the level of a nutrient in a food item. e.g. "high", "low", "less than...", etc. They are also known as descriptors and as such require analysis and assistance in documenting them for inclusion on your products label or usage with a menu. We do all this for you for one low fee.  

Q: What size and format do we use for our Nutrition Facts panel? Our graphic artist wants to make it as small as possible.

A: The label panels size and format are based on factors that include the number of nutrients present in your product (from analysis), certain elements regarding your package size, and applicable FDA regulations. We will assist you with the best format and compliant size.   

Q: I want to make heart healthy statements on my restaurant menu about some new entree items, such as "low cholesterol" and "low sodium". Am I exempt from regulations?

A: No. These claims require analysis as well as support documentation before you can make such claims. This information must be available to your customers. Use our NutriMENU service for this. Easy, fast, and low-cost.                                                         

Q: What is the Trans Fat FDA Regulation that became effective in 2006, and how does it affect my new or existing food products and labels?

A: The product package/label must display the presence or absence of Trans Fats in the Nutrition Facts panel using specific format guidelines even if no trans fats are present. (Some exceptions may apply for certain zero fat declaration products and label formats—we will assist you.)

Q: What about the Allergen FDA Regulation that became effective in 2006 and 2007, and how does it affect my new or existing food products and labels?

A: The product package/labels Ingredient Statement must include a declaration of the existence of specific major food allergens as set forth in the regulation (including a Allergen footnote if non-specific). They include Milk*, Eggs*, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish*, Shellfish*, Wheat*, and Soy/Soybeans*. [* from all potential sources including the possible unintentional presence from the manufacturing process, ingredient supplies, process protocols, etc.] Some exceptions may apply—we will assist you.

Q: Can I show other additional possible Allergen sources such as Gluten on my label?

A: Yes, these can be voluntary, and include some that may be required with future regulations (2008 pending). You may also display optional nutrient sources if present within the product serving size from analysis. Many are available. Again we will assist you.  

Q: We have existing products that don't include these requirements on our label and we mainly sell to farmers markets. When should I get my product labels up to compliance?

A: Products sold and/or manufactured by or for you, the label owner, or as a manufacturer, co-packer, or a co-packer customer should be fully compliant with the above mandates. Small business exemptions will expire and the consumer public as well as prospective retail outlets for your products demand this information.

Q: How much will this cost me for those new 2006/07 regulation revisions?

A: The above features are included with all NutriLABEL services orders for new clients ordering Basic Analysis, FDA Nutrition Facts Panels, Ingredient Statement Service and/or our FDA Label Compliance Review Service. Previous Lawrence-Allen Group NutriLABEL clients will receive a significant discount for the updating of their existing labels and data.