In the U.S., Omega Fatty Acids are not included on the list of mandatory label nutrients or voluntary label nutrients for food products and do not have an associated RDI or DRV. Therefore, they are not allowed to be listed within the Nutrition Facts label. (Note: Supplement Facts labels and packaging are subject to different regulations. Therefore, you will often see Omega-3 and Omega-6 listed within the Supplement Facts label.)
However, the FDA does allow manufacturers to declare the presence of Omega Fatty Acids on the packaging itself, outside the Nutrition Facts label.
In this blog, we will cover:
When declaring the presence of Omega Fatty Acids, make sure your statement meets these regulatory requirements:
The following statements are examples of what you could declare on your package. Remember, you can use grams or milligrams.
These statements would be permitted because they are truthful and not misleading, include a quantitative amount per serving, and do not characterize the level of the nutrient in the product.
The following statements would not be permitted on a product package:
These statements would not be permitted because they are missing the quantitative amount.
These statements would not be permitted because nutrients that do not have an established DV may not include characterization statements.
Don’t forget… If you make a statement of fact such as “Contains 250 milligrams of Omega-3 Fatty Acids per serving” on the front-of-pack, this is enforced as a nutrient content claim. As a result, if your product exceeds threshold levels of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium, you would be required to include a disclosure statement (refer to 21 CFR 101.13(h) for more information about disclosure statements).
Genesis R&D includes fields for tracking Omega-3, Omega-6, as well as other individual fatty acids. When you enter the fatty acid data for your Ingredients, Genesis R&D will automatically calculate the per serving amounts at the Recipe level.
Please note, this blog post is intended as a broad overview and should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. Please be sure to consult the regulations for additional requirements.