[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49295-49296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16658]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. 2005N-0317]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Record Retention Requirements for the Soy Protein and 
Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Health Claim

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on the record retention 
requirement of the soy protein/coronary heart disease health claim.

DATES: Submit written or electronic comments on the collection of 
information by October 24, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments on the collection of information 
to: http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments. Submit written comments on 
the collection of information to the Division of Dockets Management 
(HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, 
Rockville, MD 20852. All comments should be identified with the docket 
number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Robbins, Office of Management 
Programs (HFA-250), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, 
Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-1223.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection 
of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques, when 
appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Record Retention Requirements for the Soy Protein and Risk of Coronary 
Heart Disease Health Claim--21 CFR 101.82(c)(2)(ii)(B) (OMB Control 
Number 0910-0428)--Extension

    Section 403(r)(3)(A)(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(21 U.S.C. 343(r)(3)(A)(i)) provides for the use of food label 
statements characterizing a relationship of any nutrient of the type 
required to be in the label or labeling of the food to a disease or a 
health related condition only where that statement

[[Page 49296]]

meets the requirements of the regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
to authorize the use of such a health claim. Section 101.82 (21 CFR 
101.82) of FDA's regulations authorizes a health claim for food labels 
about soy protein and the risk of coronary heart disease. To bear the 
soy protein/coronary heart disease health claim, foods must contain at 
least 6.25 grams of soy protein per reference amount customarily 
consumed. Analytical methods for measuring total protein can be used to 
quantify the amount of soy protein in foods that contain soy as the 
sole source of protein. However, at the present time there is no 
validated analytical methodology available to quantify the amount of 
soy protein in foods that contain other sources of protein. For these 
latter foods, FDA must rely on information known only to the 
manufacturer to assess compliance with the requirement that the food 
contain the qualifying amount of soy protein. Thus, FDA requires 
manufacturers to have and keep records to substantiate the amount of 
soy protein in a food that bears the health claim and contains sources 
of protein other than soy, and to make such records available to 
appropriate regulatory officials upon written request. The information 
collected includes nutrient data bases or analyses, recipes or 
formulations, purchase orders for ingredients, or any other information 
that reasonably substantiates the ratio of soy protein to total 
protein.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                               Table 1.--Estimated Annual Recordkeeping Burden\1\
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                                            Annual Frequency per   Total Annual      Hours per
  21 CFR Section     No. of Recordkeepers      Recordkeeping          Records         Record        Total Hours
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101.82(c)(2)(ii)(B                     25                      1              25               1              25
 )
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\1\There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.

    Based upon its experience with the use of health claims, FDA 
estimates that only about 25 firms would be likely to market products 
bearing a soy protein/coronary heart disease health claim and that 
only, perhaps, one of each firm's products might contain nonsoy sources 
of protein along with soy protein. The records required to be retained 
by Sec.  101.82(c)(2)(ii)(B) are the records, e.g., the formulation or 
recipe, that a manufacturer has and maintains as a normal course of its 
doing business. Thus, the burden to the food manufacturer is that 
involved in assembling and providing the records to appropriate 
regulatory officials for review or copying.

    Dated: August 17, 2005.
Jeffrey Shuren,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-16658 Filed 8-22-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S