I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4917 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to strengthen require-
ments related to nutrient information on food labels, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 3, 2021 
Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Ms. DELAURO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
strengthen requirements related to nutrient information 
on food labels, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2021’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Additional requirements for front-of-package labeling for foods. 
Sec. 3. Claims for conventional foods. 
Sec. 4. Use of specific terms. 
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Sec. 5. Format of ingredient list. 
Sec. 6. Declaration of phosphorus in the ingredient list. 
Sec. 7. Caffeine content on information panel. 
Sec. 8. Food allergen labeling. 
Sec. 9. Information about major food allergens and gluten-containing grains. 
Sec. 10. Submission and availability of food label information. 
Sec. 11. Standards of identity. 
Sec. 12. Study on fortification of corn masa flour. 
Sec. 13. Sugar alcohols and isolated fibers. 
Sec. 14. Infant and toddler beverages. 
Sec. 15. Formatting of information on principal display panels. 
Sec. 16. Sale of food online. 
Sec. 17. Definitions. 
Sec. 18. Regulations; delayed applicability. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FRONT-OF-PACK-
AGE LABELING FOR FOODS. 
(a) SUMMARY
NUTRITION
LABELING
INFORMA-
TION.—Section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-
metic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(z)(1) SUMMARY NUTRITION INFORMATION.—Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraphs (3), (4), and (5) of 
paragraph (q), if it is food (other than a dietary supple-
ment) intended for human consumption and is offered for 
sale and otherwise required to bear nutrition labeling, un-
less its principal display panel bears summary nutrition 
information that reflects the overall nutritional value of 
the food or specified ingredients, as specified in accord-
ance with regulations of the Secretary, and does not con-
tain any summary nutritional information which is in ad-
dition to or inconsistent with the information required 
under this subparagraph. 
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‘‘(2) REQUIRED CRITERIA FOR IMPLEMENTING REG-
ULATIONS.—Final regulations regarding the summary nu-
trition information required under subparagraph (1) shall 
meet the following criteria: 
‘‘(A) There shall be a standardized symbol sys-
tem that displays calorie information related to the 
serving size determined under paragraph (q)(1)(A), 
and information related to the content of saturated 
and trans fats, sodium, added sugars, and any other 
nutrients that the Secretary determines are strongly 
associated with public health concerns. 
‘‘(B) The system shall employ an approach that 
clearly distinguishes between products of greater or 
lesser nutritional value. This system shall include— 
‘‘(i) a warning symbol or symbols for prod-
ucts high in saturated or trans fats, sodium, 
added sugars, and any other nutrients the con-
sumption of which should be limited or discour-
aged; and 
‘‘(ii) a stop-light, points, star, or other 
commonly recognized signaling system to scale 
or rank foods according to their overall health 
value. 
‘‘(C) The information shall appear on all prod-
ucts that are required to bear nutrition labeling. 
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‘‘(D) The information shall— 
‘‘(i) appear in a consistent location on the 
principal display panels across products; 
‘‘(ii) have a prominent design that visually 
contrasts with existing packaging design; and 
‘‘(iii) be sufficiently large to be easily leg-
ible. 
‘‘(3) PRINCIPLES
FOR
IMPLEMENTING
REGULA-
TIONS.—In promulgating regulations regarding the sum-
mary nutrition information required under subparagraph 
(1), the Secretary shall take into account published re-
ports by the Health and Medicine Division of the National 
Academy of Sciences regarding such information, and base 
regulations on the following principles: 
‘‘(A) Consumers should be able to quickly and 
easily comprehend the meaning of the system as an 
indicator of a product’s contribution to a healthy 
diet without requiring specific or sophisticated nutri-
tional knowledge. 
‘‘(B) The nutrition information should be con-
sistent with the Nutrition Facts Panel and with the 
recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines of Amer-
icans. 
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‘‘(C) The information should aim to facilitate 
consumer selection of healthy product options, in-
cluding among nutritionally at-risk subpopulations. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary should periodically evaluate 
the front-of-package information to assess its ability 
to help facilitate consumer selection of healthy prod-
uct options and the extent to which manufacturers 
are offering healthier products as a result of the dis-
closure. 
‘‘(E) The implementation of the information 
disclosure should be accompanied by appropriate 
consumer education and promotion campaigns deter-
mined by the Secretary.’’. 
(b) PERCENTAGE OF WHEAT AND GRAINS IN GRAIN- 
BASED PRODUCTS, AND AMOUNT OF REAL FRUIT, VEGE-
TABLE, AND YOGURT
IN PRODUCTS BEARING FRUIT, 
VEGETABLE, AND YOGURT CLAIMS.—Section 403 of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by 
subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(aa) PERCENTAGE
OF WHEAT
AND GRAINS
IN 
GRAIN-BASED PRODUCTS.—If, in the case of food other 
than a dietary supplement, the principal display panel 
bears— 
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‘‘(1) the term ‘whole wheat’, ‘whole grain’, 
‘made with whole grain’, or ‘multigrain’; 
‘‘(2) a declaration of the whole grain content by 
weight; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘wheat’ on a wheat bread, pasta, 
or similar product that is typically made from wheat; 
or 
‘‘(4) any similar descriptive phrases, terms, or 
representations suggesting the product contains 
whole grains, 
unless the amounts of whole grains and refined grains, 
expressed as a percentage of total grains, are conspicu-
ously disclosed in immediate proximity to the most promi-
nent descriptive phrase, term, or representation using a 
font color and formatting of equivalent prominence to the 
descriptive phrase, term, or representation with respect to 
whole grain content, or unless 100 percent of the grains 
in the food are whole grains. 
‘‘(bb) AMOUNT OF FRUIT.— 
‘‘(1) If, in the case of food other than a dietary 
supplement, the principal display panel bears— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘fruit’, ‘fruity’, ‘froot’, 
‘frooty’, or ‘fruit-flavored’; 
‘‘(B) representations, depictions, or images 
of such ingredients; or 
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‘‘(C) any similar descriptive phrases, 
terms, or representations suggesting the prod-
uct contains fruit or any specific type of fruit, 
unless the quantity per serving and form of fruit, in-
cluding only the nutrient-dense forms, is declared on 
the principal display panel in a common household 
measure that is appropriate to the food, conspicu-
ously, and in immediate proximity to the most 
prominent term, representation, depiction, or image 
of fruit. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall by regulation establish 
quantities below which such declaration shall state 
that the food does not contain any full serving of 
fruit. 
‘‘(3) In this paragraph, the term ‘nutrient- 
dense’, with respect to the form of an ingredient de-
rived from a fruit, means the whole, cut, dried, pulp, 
puree, 100-percent juice, or fully reconstituted con-
centrate form, and not concentrates, powders, and 
other ingredients that are not whole, cut, dried, 
pulp, puree, 100-percent juice, or fully reconstituted 
concentrates. 
‘‘(cc) AMOUNT OF VEGETABLES.— 
‘‘(1) If, in the case of food other than a dietary 
supplement, the principal display panel bears— 
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