The Food and Drug Administration has indefinitely postponed a new rule that would overhaul the nutrition facts labels on food.
The Tuesday decision is the latest move to roll back nutrition rules from the Obama administration. The new nutrition label would include a line that shows the amount of added sugar in a product and would increase the size of the print for the calorie count.
The rule was supposed to go into effect on July 26, 2018, with smaller manufacturers getting an extra year to comply with it.
However, industry groups fought hard against the compliance date.
“The FDA determined that additional time would provide manufacturers covered by the rule with necessary guidance from FDA, and would help them be able to complete and print updated nutrition facts panels for their products before they are expected to be in compliance,” the agency said.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association cheered the decision, saying it will “reduce consumer confusion and costs.”
The group said the “fast-approaching deadline was virtually impossible to meet without the needed final guidance documents from FDA.”
Consumer advocacy groups weren’t as pleased.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest pointed to an earlier decision by the FDA to delay implementation of a menu-labeling rule. The rule would have forced large chains to put calorie counts on their products.
“The ability of the Trump administration to repeat its mistakes is breathtaking,” said Jim O’Hara, health promotion policy director for the center.
The FDA didn’t say when it intends to announce a new compliance date for the nutrition facts rule.
