After revisiting a prior safety assessment, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 4 mg/kg bw/day for the food coloring known as Sunset Yellow. EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) recommended raising the ADI—previously set at 1 mg/kg bw/day—in light of a 28-day study report, a 2011 evaluation conducted by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and additional toxicological information made available since the 2009 assessment. “Exposure estimates for Sunset Yellow FCF based both on the currently authorized MPLs [Maximum Permitted Levels] and reported use levels are well below the new ADI of 4 mg/kg bw/day for all population groups,” noted the ANS Panel. “Overall, the Panel concluded that, using data provided by the food industry and Member States, the reported uses and use levels of Sunset Yellow FCF (E 110) would not be of…
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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched an open consultation on a discussion paper titled “Transformation to an Open EFSA,” which sets forth “a conceptual framework, a step-by-step methodology and a plan for the transformation of the [agency] into an Open Science organization over the next five years.” Launched in January 2013 after the Corporate European Observatory (CEO) raised concerns about the agency’s ties to industry, the Open EFSA initiative seeks to ensure that citizens can participate in a decision-making process that is “clear, obvious and understandable without doubt or ambiguity.” Additional details about the CEO report and its aftermath appear in Issues 399 and 439 of this Update. More specifically, notes the discussion paper, the advent of societal trends such as crowd sourcing and open innovation—coupled with technological advances that foster the growth of global information networks—have presented new opportunities and challenges for civic engagement within EFSA’s current…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed a rule requiring that “all makers of raw ground beef products keep records” that would allow FSIS to conduct timelier recalls of potentially contaminated meat. The proposed rule would require retailers that mix meats from multiple sources to keep more detailed records identifying the source. According to a July 16, 2014, press release, previous FSIS efforts to encourage raw ground beef retailers’ maintenance of clear records have been insufficient in aiding the service in tracing the source of contaminated meat. “The improved traceback capabilities that would result from this proposal will prevent foodborne illness by allowing FSIS to conduct recalls of potentially contaminated raw ground products in a timelier manner,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Brian Ronholm. FSIS will accept comments on its proposed rule for 60 days following publication in the Federal…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule clarifying “the roles and responsibilities of USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) and USDA agencies in enforcing nondiscrimination in programs or activities conducted by USDA.” Intended to “strengthen the agency’s civil rights compliance and complaint processing activities to better protect the rights of USDA customers,” the final rule requires OASCR and other USDA agencies to “collect, maintain and annually compile data on the race, ethnicity and gender (REG) of all conducted program applicants and participants by county and State.” To facilitate early resolution of complaints, the agency also stipulates that “OASCR shall offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services to complainants where appropriate.” In addition, the final rule establishes two new protected bases: political beliefs and gender identity. “This amendment is meant to make explicit protections against discrimination based on USDA program customers’ political beliefs or…
A recent study asserts that even when children’s TV programs are free of product advertisements, they still include positive cues for unhealthy food and beverages. Paul Scully, et al., “Food and beverage cues in UK and Irish children-television programming,” Archives of Disease in Childhood, July 2014. Researchers with the University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School apparently analyzed 85.2 hours of primetime children’s programming that aired over five weekdays on two national public broadcast channels. Of the 1,155 food and beverage cues recorded, 47.5 percent represented unhealthy foods and 25 percent represented sugary drinks. Sweet snacks (13.3 percent) and confectionery/candy (11.4 percent) were the most common food cues, while tea and coffee (13.5 percent) and sugar-sweetened drinks (13 percent) were the most common beverage cues. In addition, the study’s authors noted that individual food or beverage cues were portrayed neutrally 47.5 percent of the time, positively 32.6 percent of the…
Duke University researchers have reportedly identified a “highly pathogenic mold” in recalled yogurt samples, raising questions about the human health implications of fungal pathogens such as Mucor circinelloides. Soo Chan Lee, et al., “Analysis of a foodborne fungal pathogen outbreak: virulence and genome of a Mucor circinelloides isolate from yogurt,” mBio, July 2014. After isolating the fungal strain from Chobani Greek yogurt voluntarily recalled in September 2013, the study’s authors apparently identified the pathogen as M. circinelloides f. circinelloides, a subspecies “commonly associated with human infection,” and noted that the yogurt isolate was virulent in both mouse and wax moth larva host systems. These isolates also survived transit through the GI tract in the mouse model, suggesting that “M. circinelloides can spoil food products and cause gastrointestinal illness in consumers and may pose a particular risk to immunocompromised patients.” “Typically when people think about food-borne pathogens, they think about viruses or…
A new study has reportedly concluded that “the more a child is familiar with logos and other images from fast-food restaurants, sodas and not-so-healthy snack food brands, the more likely a child is to be overweight or obese.” T. Bettina Cornwell, “Children’s knowledge of packaged and fast food brands and their BMI: Why the relationship matters for policy makers,” Appetite, July 2014. According to a recent press release, researchers found that among two groups of children aged 3 to 5 years, the preschoolers best able to match pictures of food items, packaging and cartoon characters with the corresponding logos were more likely to have higher body mass indexes (BMIs) than those with little knowledge of food and beverage brands. In particular, the study noted that only in one group of children did exercise appear to mitigate this association. “The inconsistency across studies tells us that physical activity should not be…
A study published this week by researchers associated with the Zurich, Switzerland-based Food Packaging Forum has sounded the alarm about the number of allegedly hazardous substances contained in food packaging or those that may contaminate food during production, processing, storage and transportation. Birgit Geueke, et al., “Food contact substances and chemicals of concern: a comparison of inventories,” Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, published online July 7, 2014. The researchers reportedly compared the inventories of three food contact material (FCM) databases—the Pew Charitable Trusts’ list of legal direct and indirect food additives, the EU-wide positive list for plastic FCMs and the European Food Standard Authority’s 2011 non-plastics FCM substances list—with the Substitute It Now! (SIN) list 2.1 and the TEDX database of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Ultimately identifying 175 substances “with hazardous properties,” they found “(1) gaps in the regulation of FCMs and (2) how knowledge from different authorities and organizations could…
NPR’s “All Things Considered” has tackled a conundrum that has apparently stymied courts and regulators alike: is a burrito considered a sandwich? According to NPR’s Elise Hu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently distinguishes a sandwich—“meat or poultry filling between two slices of bread, a bun or a biscuit”—from burritos, wraps and hot dogs, but state agencies have also drawn their own conclusions for inspection and tax purposes. “My new home state of New York has a special tax category for sandwiches. And because they have that, it means they then have to go and define what they think a sandwich is,” explains Noah Veltman, a self-identified aficionado of obscure government memoranda. “So they publish this memo that explains that a sandwich includes club sandwiches and BLTs, but they also include hot dogs and they include burritos and they include gyros. And then you have to sort of say,…
City University of New York School of Public Health Professor Nicholas Freudenberg authored a July 8, 2014, article for Corporations & Health Watch, offering eight policy approaches for reducing added sugar consumption. Titled “Time to Talk on Added Sugar Policy,” the article recommends that, in light of New York City’s failure to implement soda-size limitations, new policies should strive to (i) educate the public about the purported risks of excess sugar consumption; (ii) enact regulations requiring companies to reduce the amount of sugar in food and beverages; (iii) use public benefits and nutrition assistance programs to limit the purchase of sugary foods and beverages; (iv) implement taxation schemes targeting specific products and manufacturers; (v) lower dietary guidelines for sugar consumption; (vi) increase the price of sugar by ending sugar subsidies; (vii) encourage institutions to divest from industries that promote sugar consumption; and (viii) launch community-based campaigns to cut sugar. “First,…
