12.01.06
FDA to Hold Public Hearing on Functional FoodsFDA has announced a public hearing on the regulation of certain conventional foods that companies are marketing as “functional foods.” The purpose of the hearing is for the agency to share its current regulatory framework and rationale regarding the safety evaluation and labeling of these foods, and to solicit information and comments from interested persons on how FDA should regulate these foods under the agency’s existing legal authority. The hearing is scheduled to take place this month.
The functional foods market has grown exponentially over the years to become close to a $27 billion business, according to Nutrition Business Journal, San Diego, CA. But because FDA has no regulatory definition for functional foods, it is challenged at times when it comes to how the agency should regulate such items. “Although we are confident that the existing provisions of the act are adequate to ensure that conventional foods being marketing as ‘functional foods’ are safe and lawful, we believe that it would be in the best interest of public health to begin a dialogue with industry, consumers and other stakeholders regarding the regulation of these products,” FDA said in its announcement.
The agency believes it is necessary to hold this public hearing in order to afford interested parties the opportunity to provide comments on approaches to the regulation of conventional foods being marketed as functional foods. As for dietary supplements, FDA said it does not consider dietary supplements to be encompassed by the term functional foods. However, because some labeling provisions of the act with respect to dietary supplements are relevant to the issues and questions that are part of the scope of this hearing, there may be some discussion of this category of products.
The functional foods market has grown exponentially over the years to become close to a $27 billion business, according to Nutrition Business Journal, San Diego, CA. But because FDA has no regulatory definition for functional foods, it is challenged at times when it comes to how the agency should regulate such items. “Although we are confident that the existing provisions of the act are adequate to ensure that conventional foods being marketing as ‘functional foods’ are safe and lawful, we believe that it would be in the best interest of public health to begin a dialogue with industry, consumers and other stakeholders regarding the regulation of these products,” FDA said in its announcement.
The agency believes it is necessary to hold this public hearing in order to afford interested parties the opportunity to provide comments on approaches to the regulation of conventional foods being marketed as functional foods. As for dietary supplements, FDA said it does not consider dietary supplements to be encompassed by the term functional foods. However, because some labeling provisions of the act with respect to dietary supplements are relevant to the issues and questions that are part of the scope of this hearing, there may be some discussion of this category of products.