FDA Rule Requires Color Additive Information on Animal Food Labels

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule requiring
animal and pet food labels to list “the common or usual names” of any certified
color additives used in the products. Issued in response to the Nutrition
Labeling and Education Act of 1990, the final rule brings animal food labeling
in line with current human food regulations by adding “paragraph (k) to the
animal food labeling regulations at § 501.22 (21 CFR 501.22).”

The first part of paragraph (k) explains that any FDA-certified color additive
used in animal foods “must be declared in the ingredient list” under the
name listed in 21 CFR part 74 or 21 CFR part 82, although manufacturers are
permitted to “parenthetically declare an appropriate alternative name of the
certified color additive following its common or usual name.” In addition, the
new rules require that the term “Lake” be included “in the declaration of the
lake of the certified color additive (e.g., Blue 1 Lake).”

The second part of paragraph (k) details the language permitted for color
additives exempt from FDA certification. These additives may be declared
on animal food labels as (i) “‘Artificial Color,’ ‘Artificial Color Added,’ or ‘Color
Added’ (or by an equally informative term that makes clear that a color
additive has been used in the food)”; or (ii) “‘Colored with _____’ or ‘_____
color,’ the blank to be filled with the name of the color additive listed in the
applicable regulation in part 73 of this chapter.” The final rule takes effect
November 18, 2013.