Food and Drug Administration revisiting confusing added sugars labeling rule
The Sugar Association applauds U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb for his Sept. 6, 2018, statement recognizing the need to revisit the yet-to-be-implemented rule requiring labeling of added sugars for single-ingredient sweeteners such as sugar, honey and maple syrup on the new Nutrition Facts Label.
“The Commissioner’s statement acknowledges the inaccuracy and potential confusion of the agency’s initial rule requiring added sugars labeling for single-ingredient pure sweeteners like sugar, honey and maple syrup. We are hopeful FDA recognizes that the most accurate label is one where retail bags and boxes of sugar state 0 grams added sugars,” the Sugar Association President and CEO Courtney Gaine said. “There should be no added sugars listed for individual packages of pure sugar because nothing is added to pure sugar.”
Consumer findings support FDAs revisiting the label regulation for single-ingredient sweeteners. According to recent research, 90 percent of consumers incorrectly interpreted FDA’s current labeling plan to mean that sugars are added to pure sugar and 69 percent thought that a bag or box of sugar was not a “pure” product.
While FDA has proposed a disclaimer for honey and maple syrup, stating that the added sugars in honey and maple syrup are naturally occurring, consumer research shows that this fix does not clear up confusion. Additionally, while sugar, honey and maple syrup are all pure, single ingredient products, the proposed disclaimer is only applicable to honey and maple syrup. Final labeling guidance should be the same for all pure single-ingredient sweeteners.
“The simple fact is that there are no added sugars in sugar,” Gaine said. “Sugar is extracted from plants; it is a pure, single ingredient product with nothing added to it.”
