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Menstrual Products-Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations; Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff; Availability

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance entitled "Menstrual Products-- Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendat...

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Department of Health and Human Services

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2025-D-5107]

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance entitled “Menstrual Products—Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations.” This draft guidance document provides recommendations for performance testing, labeling, and information for inclusion in premarket notification (510(k)) submissions, when necessary, for certain menstrual products. The recommendations in this guidance apply to tampons, pads, and menstrual cups used to absorb or collect menstrual fluid or other vaginal discharge. The recommendations reflect updated review practices and are intended to promote consistency and transparency in product labeling and testing for manufacturers of these devices. This draft guidance is not final nor is it for implementation at this time.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by January 16, 2026 to ensure that the Agency considers your comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final version of the guidance.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time as follows:

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-D-5107 for “Menstrual Products—Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations.” Received comments 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.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted onhttps://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 ( printed page 51372) 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.

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)).

An electronic copy of the guidance document is available for download from the internet. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for information on electronic access to the guidance. Submit written requests for a single hard copy of the draft guidance document entitled “Menstrual Products—Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations” to the Office of Policy, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 66, Rm. 5441, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Erica Takai, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, 301-796-6353.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

In appropriations reports from the House Appropriations Committee in the fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the Committee requested that FDA update its guidance on menstrual tampons and pads, “Menstrual Tampons and Pads: Information for Premarket Notification Submissions (510(k)s),” issued on July 27, 2005. This draft guidance, which when final will supersede, “Menstrual Tampons and Pads: Information for Premarket Notification Submissions (510(k)s),” includes information requested by the Committee in the appropriations reports and provides additional detail and clarifications to existing recommendations. Specifically, the draft guidance includes recommendations for menstrual cups, disclosing ingredients (including fragrances/deodorants) on all menstrual product outer package labels, evaluating contaminants for all menstrual products, test methods that can be used for evaluating tampons for Toxic Shock Syndrome risk and effect on vaginal microflora, and clarification of test methods for non-clinical bench testing of tampons.^[1]

This draft guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on Menstrual Products—Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations and will supersede “Menstrual Tampons and Pads: Information for Premarket Notification Submissions (510(k))s,” issued on July 27, 2005. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

As we develop any final guidance on this topic, FDA will consider comments on costs or cost savings the guidance may generate, relevant for Executive Order 14192.

II. Electronic Access

Persons interested in obtaining a copy of the draft guidance may do so by downloading an electronic copy from the internet. A search capability for all Center for Devices and Radiological Health guidance documents is available at https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/device-advice-comprehensive-regulatory-assistance/guidance-documents-medical-devices-and-radiation-emitting-products. This guidance document is also available at https://www.regulations.gov,https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents. Persons unable to download an electronic copy of “Menstrual Products—Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations” may send an email request to CDRH-Guidance@fda.hhs.gov to receive an electronic copy of the document. Please use the document number GUI00000166 and complete title to identify the guidance you are requesting.

III. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

While this guidance contains no new collection of information, it does refer to previously approved FDA collections of information. The previously approved collections of information are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521). The collections of information in the following table have been approved by OMB:

21 CFR part; guidance; or FDA form	Topic	OMB control No.
807, subpart E	Premarket notification	0910-0120
812	Investigational Device Exemption	0910-0078
“Requests for Feedback and Meetings for Medical Device Submissions: The Q-Submission Program”	Q-submissions and Early Payor Feedback Request Programs for Medical Devices	0910-0756
800, 801, 809, and 830	Medical Device Labeling Regulations; Unique Device Identification	0910-0485
820	Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP); Quality System (QS) Regulation	0910-0073
50, 56	Protection of Human Subjects and Institutional Review Boards	0910-0130

( printed page 51373)

Grace R. Graham,

Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs.

Footnotes

1. FDA supports the principles of the “3Rs” to replace, reduce, and/or refine animal use in testing, when feasible. We encourage manufacturers to consult with FDA if they wish to use a non-animal testing method that they believe is suitable, adequate, validated, and feasible. We will consider if a proposed alternative method could be assessed for equivalency to an animal test method.

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[FR Doc. 2025-19948 Filed 11-14-25; 8:45 am]

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90 FR 51371

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“Menstrual Products-Performance Testing and Labeling Recommendations; Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff; Availability,” thefederalregister.org (November 17, 2025), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2025-19948/menstrual-products-performance-testing-and-labeling-recommendations-draft-guidance-for-industry-and-food-and-drug-admini.