MILAN – The Human Foods Programme (HFP) of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the US federal agency responsible for protecting public health, has announced that it is considering new guidance for labeling caffeine content on food and beverages as part of its regulatory priority list for 2026. This decision comes at a time when energy drinks and other high-caffeine beverages face mounting scrutiny for allegedly failing to provide adequate warnings about potential risks associated with their consumption, particularly for children.
HFP continues to build on significant accomplishments from last year, guided by the three risk pillars at the core of our work. The topics on the agenda are a priority for the agency’s Human Foods Program to complete during 2026. New topics include:
- Labeling Caffeine Content in Foods and Beverages; Draft Guidance for Industry
- Questions and Answers Regarding Use of the “Healthy” Claim
- Necessity of the Use of Food Product Categories in Food Facility Registrations and Updates to Food Product Categories: Guidance for Industry
The complete list can be found at Foods Program Guidance Under Development.
Guidance documents represent the FDA’s current thinking on a specific topic, and the information in them can help stakeholders. Guidance documents do not impose legally enforceable requirements.
Public comments on the list of human food and cosmetic guidance topics, including suggestions for alternatives or recommendations on the topics the FDA is considering, can be submitted to www.regulations.gov, using Docket FDA-2022-D-2088.
The list of guidance topics is just one of several resources the FDA’s Human Foods Program routinely shares with stakeholders and partners to inform them of agency priorities.
Most proposed and final rules are on the “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions,” which reports planned actions by federal departments and agencies governmentwide and is published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. A list of those FDA regulations and guidance documents under administration review is available on the Office of Management and Budget website.
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