New Hampshire lawmakers reportedly voted 185-162 against legislation (H.B. 660) that would have required food distributors to label foods that contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients. According to news sources, the vote not only puts a damper on the labeling fight in New Hampshire, but also sets back similar campaigns in Maine and Connecticut. Both states passed legislation requiring GM food labeling in 2013, but their laws cannot be enacted until at least four other Northeastern states enact similar statutes. Details about Maine’s GM bill appear in Issue 504 of this Update. See ConcordMonitor. com, January 23, 2014. Issue 511
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The Hawaii Senate has introduced legislation (S.B. 2693) that would prohibit the sale of regular soft drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in containers larger than 16 ounces. Noting that obesity is an increasingly “common and costly problem for the state,” and claiming that limiting the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages would “encourage healthier diets in the community, while offsetting economic costs associated with health care and obesity,” the bill specifically seeks to ban food establishments from (i) selling, offering for sale or providing SSBs in unsealed containers larger than 16 ounces and (ii) selling children’s meals that include such beverages. Issue 511
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has announced that, effective January 31, 2014, trichloroethylene will be listed as known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity for purposes of Proposition 65 (Prop. 65). According to OEHHA, the listing is “based on formal identification by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), an authoritative body, that the chemical causes reproductive toxicity (developmental and male reproductive endpoints).” The chemical is used as a solvent for a variety of organic materials and was used historically in coffee decaffeination and the preparation of extracts from hops and spices. See OEHHA News Release, January 31, 2014. Issue 511
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed adding a regulation to Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations to “clarify the procedure and criteria OEHHA uses to list and de-list chemicals via the ‘Labor Code’ listing mechanism of Proposition 65.” A public hearing on the proposal has been slated for March 21, 2014, and comments are requested by April 4. OEHHA maintains the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). Chemicals may be added to the list through one of four ways, including those that have been identified by reference to certain subsections of the California Labor Code. While OEHHA has established regulations setting forth general criteria for listing chemicals via the other listing mechanisms, it has not previously done so for the Labor Code mechanism.…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on its draft assessment of the human health risks posed by bisphenol A (BPA). According to a January 17, 2014, press release, the agency has recommended temporarily lowering the current tolerable daily intake (TDI) for BPA from its current level of 50 µg/kg bw/day to 5 µg/kg bw/day over concerns that exposure to the substance is likely to adversely affect the liver and kidney, in addition to affecting the mammary gland. EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) apparently arrived at the new TDI after reviewing more than 450 studies related to the potential health hazards associated with BPA. The draft scientific opinion also considers “the possible effects of BPA on the reproductive, nervous, immune, metabolic and cardiovascular systems, as well as the development of cancer,” concluding that these effects—while not likely at…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a February 11, 2014, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to provide information and receive comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions for discussion during the 46th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Hong Kong, China, on March 17-21, 2014. Agenda items include (i) endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food additives and processing aids in Codex standards; (ii) food additive provisions for grape wine and its sub-categories; (iii) descriptors and food additive provisions for milk and buttermilk and their sub-categories, and dairy-based drinks, flavored and/or fermented (e.g., chocolate milk, cocoa, eggnog, drinking yoghurt, whey-based drinks); (iv) proposals for provisions of nisin in meat and meat products, including poultry and game; and (v) proposed draft amendments to the International Numbering System for food…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced two additional public meetings, February 27, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois, and March 13 in Anaheim, California, to discuss the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) proposed rule for “Focused Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration.” The meetings are the second and third in a series announced in the December 20, 2013, Federal Register and on FDA’s FSMA website. The first meeting is slated for February 20 in College Park, Maryland.
Dairy and meat industry interests have reportedly expressed concern that the federal advisory committee tasked with revising U.S. dietary guidelines, a project undertaken every five years, may be poised to prioritize production methods as a means of addressing sustainability issues. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee apparently discussed in a recent round of public meetings whether eating more plants and fewer animals would provide environmental benefits. A subcommittee chair, identified as Tufts University Nutrition Professor Miriam Nelson, was quoted as saying, “Our hope within our subcommittee is that we’ll at least provide some background. All of us want to maintain healthy eating and have that food supply for years to come.” She also reportedly indicated that the subcommittee is looking into beef and dairy production methods, as well as organic versus conventional growing methods. The advisory committee is expected to present its report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department…
University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health researchers have apparently assessed the “subgroup-specific effects of fast food price changes on fast food consumption and cardiometabolic outcomes,” reporting greater sensitivity to fast food price changes among sociodemographic groups with a disproportionate burden of chronic disease. Katie Meyer, et al., “Sociodemographic Differences in Fast Food Price Sensitivity,” JAMA Internal Medicine, January 2014. Using data from 5,115 participants enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, which included food-frequency questionnaires as well as clinical measures such as body mass index (BMI) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance scores, the study’s authors determined that, over 20 years of follow-up, “fast food price was inversely associated with frequency of fast food consumption, with greater price sensitivity among blacks, as compared with whites, and among others with lower educational attainment.” In addition, the results suggested that “fast food price was…
A recent study examining national trends in school nutrition environments has reportedly concluded that “most U.S. elementary, middle and high school students attend schools where they are exposed to commercial efforts aimed at obtaining food or beverage sales or developing brand recognition and loyalty for future sales.” Yvonne Terry-McElrath, et al., “Commercialism in US Elementary and Secondary School Nutrition Environments: Trends from 2007 to 2012,” JAMA Pediatrics, January 2014. Relying on data from two parallel surveys of school administrators—the Food and Fitness study for elementary schools and the Youth, Education and Society study for middle and high schools—that were conducted by the Bridging the Gap program between 2007 and 2012, University of Michigan researchers measured student exposure to (i) “exclusive beverage contracts and associated incentives, profits and advertising”; (ii) “corporate food vending and associated incentives and profits”; (iii) “posters/advertisements for soft drinks, fast food, or candy”; (iv) “use of food…
