commissary INSIDER - December 2017 - 6

"Manufacturers may ﬁnd it
diﬃcult to acquire all the
information needed to update
their nutrition proﬁles in a timely
manner."

Food Safety/Health:

Legislation

Elaine Meloan, AIB International

by Andy Nelson

s 2018 nears, retailers and instore
deli and bakery suppliers will keep
a close eye on Washington, D.C.,
and other seats of governmental power,
where existing and pending food safety
and health-related legislation could significantly impact their industries.
Menu calorie labeling is top of mind for
the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association heading into next year, says Eric
Richard, the group's education coordinator. The issue has been on the front burner for a while, he says, but that hasn't
diminished the importance of educating
IDDBA members about it. "It's been a focus the past several years, and there is
still a lot of interest among members,"
he says. "It will affect instore bakeries
and delis, and we're trying to provide as
much information as we can."

There's still much for retailers to learn,
Richard says. Unfortunately, many of the
answers to their questions aren't clear -
to anyone along the supply chain. Under
the new law, items sold in instore delis
and bakeries will need to have their calorie counts displayed clearly on a sign or a
label. That applies even to made-to-order
sandwiches, salad bars and other complex instore options, Richard says.
"It's tricky to identify all the calories
when you put together a variety of ingredients on a salad bar, an olive bar, in a
sandwich," he says.
At its past two annual shows, IDDBA has
integrated menu labeling into its education packages. Also in the past two years,
the association has held live webinars
with Food and Drug Administration of-

ficials on the topic. "We have a good relationship now with the labeling team at
FDA, which has been very beneficial,"
Richard says. "We get the sense that they
really want to help educate our members."
There have been rumblings that implementation of the law could be delayed
again as the food industry continues to
struggle to find ways to comply efficiently and cost-effectively, but as of now,
Richard says, IDDBA is encouraging
members to act as though the May 2018
deadline is real.
Elaine Meloan, food labeling manager
for Manhattan, Kansas-based AIB International, says that for those food products sold in instore bakeries that require
nutrition information to be displayed, the
effects of the new law will be significant.
"It will be similar to the impact on industrial bakers," she says. "All food labels
with nutrition information will need to
be updated." Bakers will need to gather
nutrition information on their ingredients to produce an updated profile in
line with the new regulations, Meloan
says. And since the FDA has yet to issue
significant guidance documents regarding dietary fiber or added sugars, some
ingredient suppliers haven't been able to
issue revised nutrition information for
their ingredients.
"Manufacturers may find it difficult to
acquire all the information needed to
update their nutrition profiles in a timely
manner," Meloan says.

Adapting to FSMA

RETAIL INSTORE DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS WILL KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON WASHINGTON, D.C., AND
CURRENT AND PENDING LEGISLATION IN 2018.
PHOTO: ©GARY - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

6 * DECEMBER 2017

commissary INSIDER

The Food Safety Modernization Act
(FSMA), signed into law by President
Barack Obama in 2011, applies to United
States Food and Drug Administrationregistered facilities and not directly
to grocery stores and c-stores. But as

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of commissary INSIDER - December 2017