NAMA Offers Update On FDA Vending Machine Calorie Labeling Rule
3/10/15
Vending Times Tim SanfordEditor@vendingtimes.net
Issue Date: Vol. 55, No. 4, April 2015, Posted On: 3/9/2015
NAMA Offers Update On FDA Vending Machine Calorie Labeling Rule, Recommends Waiting On Compliance
CHICAGO — The National Automatic Merchandising Association reports that the Food and Drug Administration will issue a “compliance guide” for its final rule on caloric-content labeling for vending machines, and advises operators to await this publication before launching a compliance program.
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act imposed a rule requiring that vending operators with 20 or more machines post the caloric content of the products sold through a machine on or near the machine itself. The legislation gave FDA the responsibility for writing the appropriate regulation, which will take effect at the end of next year.
The FDA published [its] final rule on Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines on Dec. 1, 2014, with an implementation date of Dec. 1, 2016, the association summarized. Since the rule was issued, NAMA has been working closely with individual vending operators, food and beverage suppliers, and others impacted by the rule. NAMA is also partnering with other national trade associations to address challenges within the rule, and has hosted FDA staffers at member locations to provide them with further education on the industry.
The FDA plans to issue a “Small Entity Compliance Guide” on this final rule within the next month, NAMA said. This guidance document will reportedly restate, in plain language, the requirements set forth in the calorie disclosure regulations.
NAMA recommends vending operators and suppliers delay making any changes to meet the new rule until that compliance guide has been issued. The association will continue to provide members with information as it becomes available. Member operators with questions about the calorie disclosure rule are invited to contact NAMA’s government affairs division by emailing edell@vending.org (Eric Dell). The FDA also has established an email address specifically to deal with vending questions, NAMA asks members to review their questions with the association before sending them on to FDA.