S. 5166 — Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2026

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2026” and lists the table of contents for sections 2 through 18, which address front-of-package labeling, claims, ingredient lists, allergens, online sales, and related food labeling requirements.

This section requires front-of-package labeling on most foods for human consumption that identifies high amounts of added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat with separate "High in" labels and exclamation point icons, using Daily Reference Values established for adults, children ages 1–3, and infants through 12 months. It mandates the statement “Contains non-nutritive sweeteners. Not recommended for children.” on the principal display panel of products containing such sweeteners. It also requires conspicuous percentage disclosures of whole grains (or 100 percent whole grain status) on products using whole grain terms, and quantity and form declarations for fruit or vegetables on products making such claims.

This section expands health-related claims permitted on conventional foods to include descriptions of a nutrient’s effect on body structure or function, its documented mechanism, or general well-being from consumption. It requires manufacturers to provide substantiation within 90 days of a Secretary request. It changes the standard for required disclosures from increasing diet-related disease risk to incompatibility with healthy dietary practices, mandates prominent disclosure statements for nutrient content claims, updates sodium disclosure to the 2016 Daily Reference Value and adds sugars disclosure, eliminates fat disclosure requirements for meal and main dish products, authorizes “low added sugar” claims at 3 grams or less per serving, restricts trans fat claims to the Nutrition Facts Panel unless saturated fat is below 1 gram per serving, and directs a final rule within 2 years establishing a disqualifying nutrient level for added sugars.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations governing use of the terms non-UPF, non-ultraprocessed, not UPF, and not ultraprocessed on food labels. The regulations must exclude foods that do not meet the regulatory definition of healthy and all dietary supplements, and must address placement on the principal display panel and information panel. It further requires regulations on the term natural for foods other than dietary supplements, mandating a prominent disclosure of its meaning in terms of ingredients and manufacturing processes and basing the definition on consumer understanding data from surveys and studies.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish format requirements for ingredient lists on food labels (other than dietary supplements) to improve readability and assist healthy dietary practices. The requirements must address font size, uppercase and lowercase characters, serif and noncondensed font types, high contrast between text and background, and bullet points between ingredients, with exemptions for small packages. It also requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress every two years, beginning two years after enactment, on enforcement of ingredient labeling requirements under section 403(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and 21 C.F.R. 101.4.

This section requires foods intended for human consumption that contain phosphorus to state “contains phosphorus” and the quantity in milligrams per serving immediately after the ingredients list, or to report the quantity in the Nutrition Facts Panel. It further requires labels using the terms “natural flavor,” “artificial flavor,” or “spice” to list each specific substance in parentheses, except that foods listing more than 10 substances or sold in packages of 40 square inches or less may instead display a QR code linking to the full list.

This section requires foods other than dietary supplements that contain at least 10 milligrams of caffeine from all sources per serving to state on the label the number of milligrams of caffeine in one serving and the serving size, with appropriate prominence near the statement of ingredients.

This section expands the definition of major food allergen to include any other food or food ingredient that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines by regulation to be a major food allergen based on the prevalence and severity of allergic reactions. It also requires the Secretary to update the FDA Compliance Policy Guide section 555.250 within 2 years to conform with laws on major food allergens and gluten-containing grains.

This section expands major food allergen labeling requirements under 21 U.S.C. 343(w) to also cover gluten-containing grains, requiring the information to appear immediately after or adjacent to the ingredients list (in the same type size) or, for nonpackaged retail foods, on an adjacent sign (in a type size no smaller than the food name). It adds gluten-containing grains to hazard analysis and preventive controls under 21 U.S.C. 350g and to related inspection provisions under 21 U.S.C. 374a.

This section requires the manufacturer or importer of any packaged food introduced into interstate commerce to submit to the Secretary the nutrition facts panel, ingredients list, principal display panel image, major allergens and gluten-containing grains, nutrient-content claims, health-related claims, and other required labeling information, with updates to keep the data current. It establishes a public, searchable FDA database of the submitted information and imposes a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for knowing violations.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review, within 2 years of enactment, standards of identity requiring minimum levels of nutrients strongly associated with public health concerns or ingredients high in such nutrients, and to report findings to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. It requires amendments to allow salt substitutes where appropriate and to mandate minimum levels of live and active cultures per gram in yogurt, lowfat yogurt, and nonfat yogurt.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress within 2 years of enactment on the effect of the 2016 FDA final rule permitting folic acid fortification of corn masa flour. The report must examine folic acid intake across the U.S. population by race and ethnicity and compare actual exposure levels with the rule’s modeled estimates.

This section deems a food misbranded if it contains allulose, polydextrose, sugar alcohols, or isolated fibers unless that fact is prominently stated on the principal display panel of the packaging. It requires the Secretary to establish by regulation quantities above which the label must warn that the food contains levels of those ingredients per serving determined to cause deleterious health effects.

This section prohibits beverages other than infant formula from using the term “infant formula” or the word “formula” when marketed for children over 12 months of age. It requires milk-based beverages for children ages 12 to 36 months to use the common name “milk-based drink” (with qualifiers such as “sweetened” if applicable) and nondairy versions to identify the protein source (e.g., “soy-based drink powder for 12–36 month olds”), mandates disclaimers stating the products are not for infants under 12 months and not recommended for children under 24 months, and bars any statements suggesting recommended intake.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study within 2 years on the legibility of food labeling to determine updated recommendations for text size and color contrast. It requires the Secretary to issue proposed regulations within 1 year after the study and finalize them within 2 years after the study revising section 101.2(c) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, to set text size scale and establish new color contrast requirements.

This section requires foods intended for human consumption offered for sale online or by remote electronic means to make available to consumers prior to purchase the net quantity, nutrition facts, ingredients, major food allergens, and principal display panel information required on physical labels. The information must appear prominently on the first screen of a mobile device, website, or landing page and may be provided as text or label images; multiple product versions must include a disclosure statement and all versions of the required information. It also exempts sellers from penalties under section 303(a)(1) for misbranding violations under the new requirements when the online information accurately replicates the physical label.

This section defines the terms food and dietary supplement by reference to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It adds definitions to that Act for artificial food or ingredients (including synthetic production or chemical processing, with specified exclusions for traditional methods), synthetic substances in food, gluten-containing grains (wheat, rye, and barley), gluten, online, and online point of selection.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to issue proposed regulations within 1 year after enactment (180 days for front-of-package labeling under section 2) and final regulations within 2 years, with any proposed rule becoming final if the deadline is missed. It delays applicability of the amendments made by sections 2, 3, 4, 5(a), 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, and 17(b) until 3 years after enactment and allows the front-of-package labeling rule to issue before establishing Daily Reference Values and percent Daily Values if needed to meet the deadline.