New ANVISA Resolution on Nutrition Labelling of Packaged Foods Takes Effect in October 2022

On 8 October 2022, ANVISA's (the Brazilian health regulator) new Collegiate Board Resolution No 429 on the nutrition labelling of packaged foods will come into force, requiring companies to adapt by amending and supplementing the labels of their food products.

The new Resolution seeks to provide consumers with clearer information about the ingredients contained in packaged foods.

The Resolution applies to foods packaged in the absence of consumers, including beverages, ingredients, food additives and processing aids, including those intended exclusively for industrial processing or food service.

Nutrition labelling encompasses the information designed to communicate to consumers the nutritional properties of the food: the nutrition facts table, the front-of-pack nutrition label and nutrition claims.

The nutrition facts table, already shown on product packaging, is a standardised listing of the energy content, nutrients and bioactive substances present in the food, under article 3, XXXVI of the Resolution. The tables must therefore follow a single presentation format and must also display the energy and nutritional content per 100g or 100ml of the food.

The front-of-pack nutrition label, in turn, is a simplified standardised declaration of high content of specific nutrients on the main panel of the food label, under article 3, XXXII, of RDC No 429. Under RDC No 429, the front-of-pack label must appear on the upper half of the packaging and, illustrated by a magnifying-glass symbol accompanied by the phrase "high in...", will inform the consumer about ingredients present in excess in the food. Where the amount of sugar, saturated fat or sodium meets or exceeds the threshold considered significant by ANVISA based on 100g or 100ml of the food, front-of-pack labelling will be mandatory. It is sufficient for the food to contain any one of those nutrients at or above the defined level to trigger the labelling obligation.

Nutrition claims encompass any statement other than the nutrition facts table or the front-of-pack label indicating that a food has positive nutritional properties relating to its energy value or nutrient content.

The nutrition labelling declarations for packaged foods set out in the Resolution must comply with the technical requirements of Normative Instruction No 75/2020, and non-compliance constitutes a sanitary infraction, without prejudice to administrative, civil and criminal liability.

Under article 10, item XV of Law No 6,437/1977 — which addresses sanitary infractions — labelling foodstuffs or beverages in breach of the applicable legal and regulatory rules is subject to penalties of warning, product destruction, product seizure and/or fines.

The measures and changes introduced by RDC No 429/2020 take effect on 8 October 2022, that is, 24 (twenty-four) months after its publication.

For products already on the market, packaging must be brought into compliance within 12 (twelve) months from the Resolution's entry into force; products intended exclusively for industrial processing or food service must comply from the date of entry into force.

For non-alcoholic beverages sold in returnable packaging, compliance must follow a gradual label-replacement process, which cannot exceed 36 (thirty-six) months after the Resolution's entry into force.

Finally, products manufactured before the compliance deadline may continue to be sold until the end of their shelf life.

Food companies must therefore stay alert to the new regulatory requirements set by ANVISA in order to adapt their labels and avoid administrative penalties or consumer complaints.

LUCIANA CAMPONEZ PEREIRA MORALLES

luciana.moralles@fius.com.br

ISABELA CORRADINI ANTUNES

isabela.antunes@fius.com.br