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Labels are a crucial part of our lives, featuring on garments, food items, pharmaceutical products and more. Labels are crucial for companies to connect with consumers, serving to differentiate a product from its competitors and boost brand recognition.
But labels also play a far more important role when it comes to selling products and quality control. They help companies meet their regulatory requirements. In fact, without the right labels, products cannot be legally sold in North America.
However, in the face of changing regulations and shifting consumer demands, organizations need to stay abreast of the latest developments to ensure their product labels remain compliant.
With that in mind, we’re here to give you a brief overview of North American labeling rules to look out for in 2023.
Label Regulations For The Health Industry In 2023
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration’s is the agency that regulates pharmaceutical products, including drugs and their quality control and associated labeling requirements.
In 2023, something to bear in mind when it comes to drug labels is the proposed change to regulations governing the format of the National Drug Code (NDC) and drug label barcode requirements. The NDC uniquely identifies drugs manufactured in the United States. Under the proposed change, the NDC format would be standardized to be 12 digits in length with three distinct segments and one uniform format.
Comments on this proposed change closed on 11 November, 2022, so we will have to wait and see what transpires as 2023 unfolds.
Food And Beverage Labeling Changes For 2023
Food labeling regulations in America are regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In Canada, it’s the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that regulates food and beverage labeling.
For 2023, American food and beverage companies need to be aware of several labeling changes, most notably:
- New labeling requirements for sesame as a major food allergen
- Changes to the Standard of Identity for Yogurt
- Two new guidance documents on Food Allergen Labeling Requirements to help the food industry meet the requirements to list any major food allergen on the labels of FDA-regulated foods
- Proposed changes to ‘healthy’ claim on food labels
- Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label (although these came into effect on July 1, 2021, the FDA is still working cooperatively with manufacturers to meet the new requirements)
In Canada, the major food and beverage label change to keep in mind in 2023 are the amendments to nutrition labeling, list of ingredients and food color requirements. While these changes came into effect on December 14, 2021 – following the end of a five-year transition period – December 14, 2022 is the date from which the CFIA will verify compliance and start applying enforcement.
The other noteworthy food and beverage change to be aware of is the new front-of-package nutrition labeling. It is designed to highlight foods that are high in certain ingredients that could impact consumers’ health. And while manufacturers have until January 1, 2026 to change their labels to comply with the new requirement, next year will see many stepping up their efforts ahead of the deadline.
How To Maintain Labels Correctly In Your Plant
With labeling rules and requirements subject to change at any time, being able to effectively and efficiently amend your product labels and ensure maximum quality control across the board is paramount.
Fortunately, with today’s advanced Enterprise Output Management solutions, you can benefit from knowing that all of your important documents and information are always up to date, and can be printed or electronically distributed across your manufacturing organization.
Contact us today to find out more about our Enterprise Output Management solutions and document management and how they can help your organization effectively and efficiently meet its product labeling requirements.