Companies in the food sector must adjust product labeling to new rules by October

As of October 2022, the new rules for industrialized foods labeling will come into force: Brazilian National Health Regulatory Agency (“ANVISA”)’s Resolution No. 429 of 2020 (“RDC 429”) and Rule No. 75 of 2020 (“NI 75”), which establish new parameters and criteria for the description of nutrition facts labeling.

ANVISA enacted the new rules to address the central problem of Nutrition Facts Labeling, which is the difficulty of interpreting and understanding nutrition information by the population.

The previous legislation did not standardize formatting for the Nutrition Information Table or a clear description of the nutritional quality of the food.

We highlight below the main changes that companies in the sector must comply with:

1. Standardized Formatting of the Nutrition Information Table:
NI 75 refers to five Nutrition Information Table models that companies can choose from (Appendix IX, NI 75/2020). To make it easier to read the information, the table must have a white background and black letters. In addition, the table must be next to the ingredient list and on a continuous, exposed surface, i.e. it cannot be on a part with divisions or embossing.

2. Parameter of Nutrition Information Table Information:
The new regulation establishes new parameters for value and quantity information, such as: (i) the relation of the nutritional or energetic value to each 100g or 100ml serving (art. 8, RDC 429/2020); (ii) the quantity of food portions (Appendix V, NI 75/2020); (iii) distinction between the quantity of total sugar (natural substance present in the food) and additional sugars (external substances added) – art. 5, RDC 429/2020; (iv) parameters for each nutrient’s and ingredient’s Daily Reference Value (Appendix II, NI 75/2020). 

3. New frontal nutritional labeling:
Front-facing labeling is the major innovation of the new Resolution.

The purpose is to make more visible the disclosure of ingredients that may represent a health risk, whose amount of added sugars, saturated fats, or sodium is equal to or greater than the parameters defined in the legislation (art. 18, RDC 429/2020 and Appendix IV, of NI 75/2020).

Such labeling will also be standardized, clearly indicating “high in added sugar, saturated fat, or sodium”.

NEW PRODUCTS produced as of October 9, 2022, must comply with the new nutrition fact labeling rules.

For PRODUCTS IN CIRCULATION, the adaptation will be gradual, according to the following deadlines:

• for food in general: until October 09, 2023;
• for food produced by family farmers or rural family businesses, “solidarity economic enterprise”, individual microbusinesses, small-scale agro-industry, artisanal agro-industry, and artisanal food: until October 09, 2024;
• for non-alcoholic beverages in returnable packaging: Until October 09, 2025.

Failure to comply with the deadlines and provisions of the new rules may result in the imposition of administrative penalties such as fines, seizure, destruction or prohibition of the product, and even a ban on advertising (Article 2, Law No 6,437/1977).

Demarest’s Life Sciences team is monitoring the updates of the industry and is available to provide any further clarifications that may be necessary.