FDA Releases Human Foods Program’s 2026 Guidance Agenda

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Human Foods Program updated its 2026 guidance agenda with possible new topics for guidance documents or revisions to existing documents being considered. The program is building on what it accomplished last year, guided by three risk pillars: preventing foodborne illness, reducing diet-related chronic disease, and ensuring chemicals in food are safe.  

New topics include:

• A draft guidance for industry on labeling caffeine content in foods and beverages
• Questions and answers regarding the use of the “healthy” claim
• Updates to industry guidance on the use of food product categories for food facility registrations
• Guidance on issues related to identity and safety information in the New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN) process
• Fruit Juice and Vegetable Juice as color additives

The complete list of topics FDA intends to address can be found here.

Guidance documents represent FDA’s current thinking on a specific topic, intended to help stakeholders. They don’t impose legally enforceable requirements. Public comments on the list of guidance topics on the agenda can be submitted here.

Most proposed and final rules are on the “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions,” which reports planned actions by all federal departments and agencies. A list of those FDA regulations and guidance documents is available here.