[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30180-30182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13831]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2018-N-2381]


The Food and Drug Administration's Comprehensive, Multi-Year 
Nutrition Innovation Strategy; Public Meeting; Request for Comments

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing the 
following public meeting entitled ``FDA's Comprehensive, Multi-Year 
Nutrition Innovation Strategy.'' The purpose of the public meeting is 
to give interested persons an opportunity to discuss FDA's nutrition 
innovation strategy, including: A standard icon or symbol for the claim 
``healthy''; a more efficient review strategy for evaluating qualified 
health claims; statements or claims that could facilitate innovation to 
promote healthful eating patterns; approaches for modernizing standards 
of identity; possible changes that could make ingredient information 
more consumer friendly; and FDA's educational campaign for consumers 
about the updated Nutrition Facts Label that consumers will be seeing 
in the marketplace.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on July 26, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. 
until 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Submit either electronic or written 
comments on this public meeting by August 27, 2018. See the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for registration date and 
information.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Hilton Washington DC/
Rockville Hotel, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. For more 
information on the hotel see http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/maryland/hilton-washington-dc-rockville-hotel-and-executive-meeting-ctr-IADMRHF/index.html.
    You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, untimely 
filed comments will not be considered.

[[Page 30181]]

Electronic comments must be submitted on or before August 27, 2018. The 
https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept 
comments until midnight Eastern Time at the end of August 27, 2018. 
Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper 
submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the 
delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
    <bullet> If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
    <bullet> Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
    <bullet> For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2018-N-2381 for ``FDA's Comprehensive, Multi-Year Nutrition 
Innovation Strategy.'' Received comments, those filed in a timely 
manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except for 
those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable at 
https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 
9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
    <bullet> Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' We will review 
this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in our 
consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed 
confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for 
public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both 
copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name 
and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide 
this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your 
comments and you must identify this information as ``confidential.'' 
Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not be disclosed except 
in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. 
For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, 
see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: 
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For questions about registering for the meeting or to register by 
phone: Melissa Schroeder, SIDEM, 1775 Eye St, NW, Suite 1150, 
Washington, DC 20006, 240-393-4496, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#410437242f35123431312e333501122825242c26332e34316f222e2c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a3f0c1f140e290f0a0a15080e3a29131e1f171d08150f0a54191517">[email protected]</span></a>.
    For general questions about the meeting or for special 
accommodations due to a disability: Juanita Yates, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-009), Food and Drug Administration, 
5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1731, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#307a45515e5944511e4951445543705654511e5858431e575f46"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="95dfe0f4fbfce1f4bbecf4e1f0e6d5f3f1f4bbfdfde6bbf2fae3">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    FDA plays a critical role in promoting public health by, among 
other things, ensuring that food labeling provides consumers with 
reliable, evidence-based information so that they can make informed 
choices about the foods they purchase in order to maintain and improve 
their health through diet and nutrition. On January 11, 2018, FDA 
released its 2018 Strategic Policy Roadmap (https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ReportsManualsForms/Reports/ucm591993.htm), which focuses, in 
part, on efforts to empower consumers to make better and more informed 
decisions about their diets and health, foster the development of 
healthier food options, and expand the opportunities to use nutrition 
to reduce morbidity and mortality due to chronic disease. The roadmap 
highlights FDA's commitment to finding approaches to advance policies 
that better achieve these goals.
    On March 29, 2018, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, M.D. 
announced a comprehensive, multi-year FDA Nutrition Innovation Strategy 
(hereinafter the ``FDA Nutrition Innovation Strategy'') (to access the 
speech, visit https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Speeches/ucm603057.htm). 
The Nutrition Innovation Strategy seeks to promote public health 
through improved nutrition, encourage industry innovation to create 
healthy products that consumers seek, and address ways for consumers to 
identify those products. In implementing the Nutrition Innovation 
Strategy, FDA is committed to providing opportunities for public input 
to help with these initiatives. Early and active engagement from 
stakeholders and the public will help to inform FDA's thinking and 
policy actions.

II. Topics for Discussion at the Public Meeting

    FDA will host a 1-day meeting to provide stakeholders and other 
interested persons an opportunity to have an in-depth discussion on 
various aspects of the FDA Nutrition Innovation Strategy and to provide 
input on ways to modernize FDA's approach to better protect public 
health while removing barriers to industry innovation. FDA expects that 
the topics addressed at the meeting will include the following (a more 
detailed agenda will be made available prior to the meeting):
    <bullet> Considering using a standard icon to denote the claim 
``healthy'' on food labels.

[[Page 30182]]

    <bullet> Creating a more efficient review strategy for evaluating 
qualified health claims on food labels.
    <bullet> Discussing new or enhanced labeling statements or claims 
that could facilitate innovation to produce more healthful foods and 
more healthful consumer food choices.
    <bullet> Modernizing the standards of identity to provide more 
flexibility for the development of healthier products, while making 
sure consumers have accurate information about these food products.
    <bullet> Providing opportunities to make ingredient information 
more helpful to consumers.
    <bullet> FDA's educational campaign for consumers about the updated 
Nutrition Facts Label.
    We invite interested parties to provide information on the above 
and other topics related to the FDA Nutrition Innovation Strategy.

III. Participating in the Public Meeting

    Registration: To register for the public meeting, please visit the 
following website: https://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/WorkshopsMeetingsConferences/default.htm. Please provide complete 
contact information for each attendee, including name, title, 
affiliation, address, email, and telephone.
    Registration is free and based on space availability, with priority 
given to early registrants. Persons interested in attending this public 
meeting must register by July 19, 2018, midnight Eastern Time. Early 
registration is recommended because seating is limited; therefore, FDA 
may limit the number of participants from each organization. 
Registrants will receive confirmation when they have been accepted.
    If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please 
contact Juanita Yates (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) no later 
than July 12, 2018.
    Requests for Oral Presentations: During online registration you may 
indicate if you wish to present during a public comment session or 
participate in a specific session, and which topic(s) you wish to 
address. We will do our best to accommodate requests to make public 
comments and requests to participate in the focused sessions. 
Individuals and organizations with common interests are urged to 
consolidate or coordinate their presentations, and request time for a 
joint presentation, or submit requests for designated representatives 
to participate in the focused sessions. All requests to make oral 
presentations must be received by July 12, 2018, midnight Eastern Time. 
We will determine the amount of time allotted to each presenter and the 
approximate time each oral presentation is to begin, and will select 
and notify participants by July 16, 2018. Speakers will be limited to 
making oral remarks; there will not be an opportunity to display 
materials such as slide shows, videos, or other media during the 
meeting. No commercial or promotional material will be permitted to be 
presented or distributed at the public meeting.
    Streaming Webcast of the Public Meeting: This public meeting will 
also be webcast. Webcast participants are asked to preregister at 
https://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/WorkshopsMeetingsConferences/default.htm.
    Transcripts: Please be advised that as soon as a transcript of the 
public meeting is available, it will be accessible at https://www.regulations.gov. It may be viewed at the Dockets Management Staff 
(see ADDRESSES). A link to the transcript will also be available on the 
internet at https://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/WorkshopsMeetingsConferences/default.htm.
    Other Issues for Consideration: A summary of key information on 
participating in the meeting follows:

                                                  Table 1--Information on Participation in the Meeting
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                                                                                                                                         Submit either
              Date                      Address           Preregister     Electronic address  Request to make an        Special          electronic or
                                                                                               oral presentation    accommodations     written comments
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July 26, 2018 from 8:30 a.m.      Hilton Washington   July 19, 2018:      https://            July 12, 2018.....  July 12, 2018:      Submit Comments
 until 5:30 p.m. EDT.              DC/Rockville        Closing date for    www.fda.gov/Food/                       closing date to     to: https://
                                   Hotel, 1750         registration.       NewsEvents/                             request special     www.regulations.g
                                   Rockville Pike,                         WorkshopsMeetings                       accommodations      ov, or Dockets
                                   Rockville, MD                           Conferences/                            due to a            Management Staff
                                   20852.                                  default.htm.                            disability.         (HFA-305), Food
                                                                                                                                       and Drug
                                                                                                                                       Administration,
                                                                                                                                       5630 Fishers
                                                                                                                                       Lane, Rm. 1061,
                                                                                                                                       Rockville, MD
                                                                                                                                       20852.
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    Dated: June 22, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-13831 Filed 6-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


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