According to one of the few Federal Register (FR) notices we have seen relating to FDA activities, today’s pre-publication page of the FR notes that “[i]n accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2025, from the President, entitled ‘Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,’ the effective date of the final rule entitled ‘Food Labeling: Nutrient Content Claims; Definition of Term ‘Healthy,’’ is delayed until April 28, 2025” (see notice here).
The FDA published the final rule on December 27, 2025 with an effective date of February 25, 2025. However, the FDA had to tap the brakes on the rule as a result of the President’s memorandum, which stated that any final rule published prior to its effective date and before the January FR notice be delayed for sixty days “for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise.” The 60-day date, therefore, corresponds with April 28, 2025.
It seems a bit strange that this rule could be even considered controversial, especially since the HHS Secretary is trying to “make America healthy again,” but apparently this is indicative of the new era in which we live. This is not the only FDA final rule delayed as noted in our January 27, 2025 post (here), which discusses that the final rule titled “Nonprescription Drug Product With an Additional Condition for Nonprescription Use” has had its implementation date delayed until March 21, 2025. Anyway, we will see what happens to these rules and let you know!
