[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 180 (Friday, September 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45229-45230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18169]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Docket No. FDA-2025-N-1793]
Ultra-Processed Foods; Request for Information; Extension of
Comment Period
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS); U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice; request for information; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: FDA and USDA (we) are extending the comment period for the
notice that appeared in the Federal Register of July 25, 2025. In the
notice, we requested data and information to help develop a uniform
definition of ultra-processed foods (UPF or UPFs). In response to
requests for an extension, we are extending the comment period until
October 23, 2025, to allow interested persons additional time to submit
comments.
DATES: We are extending the comment period announced in the notice
published July 25, 2025 (90 FR 35305). Electronic or written comments
must be submitted by October 23, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late,
untimely filed comments will not be considered. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of October 23, 2025. Comments
received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions)
will be considered timely if they are received on or before that date.
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information,
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
If you want to submit a comment with confidential
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public,
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').
Written/Paper Submissions
Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified,
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No.
FDA-2025-N-1793 for ``Ultra-Processed Foods; Request for Information.''
Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will
be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as
``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-402-7500.
Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' We will review
this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in our
consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed
confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for
public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both
copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name
and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide
this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your
comments and you must identify this information as ``confidential.''
Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not be disclosed except
in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law.
For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets,
see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane,
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
FDA: Claudine Kavanaugh, Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling,
Human Foods Program, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr.,
College Park, MD 20740, 301-796-4647; or Meadow Platt, Office of
Policy, Regulations, and Information, Human Foods Program, Food and
Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-
2378.
USDA: Eve Stoody, Food and Nutrition Service, United States
Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314,
703-305-2062.
[[Page 45230]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Federal Register of July 25, 2025,
FDA and USDA published a notice requesting data and information to help
develop a uniform definition of ultra-processed foods for human food
products in the U.S. food supply (90 FR 35305). A uniform UPF
definition, developed as part of a joint effort by federal agencies,
would allow for consistency in research and policy to pave the way for
addressing health concerns associated with the consumption of UPFs. The
notice requested comments by September 23, 2025.
We have received requests to extend the comment period for the
notice. Pointing to the complexity of the questions, the importance of
the issue, and other factors, the requests assert that additional time
would allow stakeholders to provide FDA and USDA detailed responses. We
have considered the requests and are extending the comment period for
the notice by 30 days, until October 23, 2025. We believe that the
extension will allow adequate time for interested persons to submit
comments.
Grace R. Graham,
Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs,
Food and Drug Administration.
Patrick A. Penn,
Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2025-18169 Filed 9-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P