On May 14, 2024, the Brazilian National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) published on its website four new versions of its food regulations implementation guidelines, namely the 3rd version of the “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Food Allergen Labeling Regulation”, the 2nd version of the “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Regulation on the Labeling of Lactose in Foods”, the 4th version of the “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Requirements for the Use of Trans-Fatty Acids in the Food Industry”, and the 2nd version of the “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Requirements for the Registration of New Formulas for Food Products”. (The above guidelines are also compliance guidance documents for manufacturers and distributors, as well as supporting documents for official authorities to carry out regulation). The main contents of the updates include:

(1) It is stipulated that food products that may be exposed to natural latex and its derivatives during processing, and the allergen control program implemented by the company cannot remove latex residues, should be labeled with the statement “may contain allergenic natural latex”;

(2) To stipulate that for infant formulae for special medical purposes and formulae to meet the needs of enteral nutrition, if the content of lactose is higher than 100mg/100g, the label of the product shall bear the warning statement “contains lactose”, which shall be adjacent to the list of ingredients and shall not be hidden intentionally, and the font shall be bold and capitalized, with a minimum height of 2mm and shall not be smaller than that of the list of ingredients. The warning should be adjacent to the list of ingredients and should not be hidden intentionally;

(3) Clarify that the ban on the use of partially hydrogenated fats and oils in the food industry also applies to food additives and processing aids;

(4) Provide for the obligation to explain to consumers after the replacement of new formulas for some food products subject to registration control.

The above guidelines are effective from the date of publication.