Victorian Government Trade and Investment office, USA & Canada’s Post

Transcript

In my previous videos, I spent a lot of time talking about the different avenues and pathways to market, and while that's all very useful information, there is a potential obstacle standing in your way before you even get to that point. The FDA. In Australia we operate under F Sats who regulate the food and beverage industry and provide advice and guidance on labelling requirements. You wouldn't be surprised to learn that the FDA has a different set of requirements when it comes to products available for sale in the United States, but you may be surprised about just how different the regulations are here, particularly as they relate to product labeling. But First things first, if you want to sell your product in the United States, it is a requirement that you're manufacturing facility be registered with the FDA. Now this isn't difficult to do necessarily, but it can take some time. So if you're out there trying to generate new business and haven't done this, first you're going to face some pretty ugly roadblocks when you try and fulfill your orders. If you manufacture your own product, this is obviously something you'll lead yourself. But if you work with a copacker, you'll need to confirm with them that their facility is registered and if it's not, they'll need to lead that registration process on your. Off. Once that's done, you'll have to confront a different beast altogether, the FDA's food and beverage labeling requirements. The first thing you need to know about this is that the FDA has much, much more stringent and prescriptive when it comes to labeling in Australia. We have quite a lot of leeway when it comes to labeling our products. Now there are some must haves. Obviously we can't be misleading. We have to use the Nutrition information panel. We have to provide country of origin information and all this supplies here in the United States as well. There are obviously some differences in terms of formatting and what's required. And the nutrition panel, and this is going to require some extra calculation or testing on your part, but there are many additional requirements that apply to products labeled for sale here in the United States. Now. Thankfully the FDA has provided A brief 132 page labelling guide for your perusal now Digesting this whole document would take way too long for this short video, but some of the key things to be aware of include there are specific requirements for the size of your font based on the size of your label. There are specific requirements for the Nutrition Facts template that must be used based on the size of your label. There are specific requirements for where information must be displayed and in what format it must be displayed. Nutritional values are rounded and these rounding rules differ based on each separate item. Serving sizes are dictated by the FDA and not by the manufacturer. Nutrition content and health claims are heavily regulated and defined clearly in the guidelines. Now this is by no means an exhaustive list and there are many more additional requirements that may be product specific to you. Additionally, if your product falls into certain categories like alcohol or meat or produce, you will also have to comply with additional. Requirements placed upon you by other regulatory bodies like the Department of Agriculture or the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. So with all of this in mind, it is absolutely critical that you engage a specialist to review your product and your labeling to ensure they're in compliance with all relevant regulations. To learn more about the US food and beverage market, be sure to get in touch today. And if you're not in food and beverage, connect with one of our other North American trade specialists.