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[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2393-2394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00683]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Part 101

[Docket No. FDA-2017-N-0763]
RIN 0910-AH43

Food Labeling: Health Claims; Soy Protein and Coronary Heart 
Disease; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is extending the 
comment period for the proposed rule that appeared in the Federal 
Register of October 31, 2017. We are taking this action in response to 
requests for an extension to allow interested persons additional time 
to submit comments.

DATES: FDA is extending the comment period on the proposed rule 
published on October 31, 2017 (82 FR 50324). Submit either electronic 
or written comments by March 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, 
untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments 
must be submitted on or before March 19, 2018. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 
midnight Eastern Time at the end of March 19, 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:
     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

[[Page 2394]]

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.
     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:
     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.
     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-2017-N-0763 for ``Food Labeling: Health Claims; Soy Protein and 
Coronary Heart Disease.'' 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.
     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: Crystal Rivers, Center for Food Safety 
and Applied Nutrition (HFS-830), Food and Drug Administration, 5001 
Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1444.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Federal Register of October 31, 2017, 
FDA published a proposed rule to revoke our regulation authorizing the 
use of health claims on the relationship between soy protein and 
coronary heart disease on the label or in the labeling of foods. We 
proposed this action based on our review of the totality of publicly 
available scientific evidence currently available and our tentative 
conclusion that such evidence does not support our previous 
determination that there is significant scientific agreement among 
qualified experts for a health claim regarding the relationship between 
soy protein and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. We provided a 
75-day comment period for the proposed rule.
    We have received requests for a 60-day extension of the comment 
period for the proposed rule. Each request conveyed concern that the 
current comment period does not allow sufficient time to develop a 
meaningful or thoughtful response to the proposed rule.
    FDA has considered the requests and is extending the comment period 
for the proposed rule until March 19, 2018. We believe that this 
extension allows adequate time for interested persons to submit 
comments without significantly delaying rulemaking on these important 
issues.

    Dated: January 11, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-00683 Filed 1-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P
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