A federal court in the District of Columbia has dismissed claims that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) violates a number of federal and state laws, including a religious freedom statute and constitutional protections. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund v. Vilsack, No. 08-1546 (D.D.C., decided July 23, 2009). Dubbed in the press as the “mark of the beast” lawsuit, the complaint, brought by farmers “who raise livestock in a sustainable manner,” contends that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) coerced Michigan’s Department of Agriculture to adopt uniform NAIS requirements that threaten their way of life by gathering information into a national database against their wills and in violation of their religious beliefs. Among the complainants are Amish farmers who apparently believe (i) they have been given dominion and control over animals, and that control has now been given to state and federal agencies; (ii) they are not permitted to take the NAIS…
Category Archives Issue 313
The Nanotechnology Standards Panel of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will meet September 9, 2009, in Chicago. The meeting will be held during the Nanobusiness Alliance Conference. The panel has been working to develop nanotechnology-related standards involving nomenclature/terminology; materials properties; and testing, measurement and characterization procedures. ANSI’s efforts are in support of international nanotechnology standards initiatives and could result in federal regulation. Nanomaterials are used in hundreds of products including food packaging.
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Science Board has scheduled an August 17, 2009, public meeting to review the agency’s continuing assessment of the packaging chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in FDA-regulated products and discuss plans to increase research reviews at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CSFAN). See Federal Register, July 28, 2009.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hosted a “Weight of the Nation” conference July 27-29, 2009, in Washington, D.C., to explore ways of tackling the nation’s escalating rates of obesity. Treating obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis reportedly costs some $147 billion annually. Speakers at the inaugural event included CDC Director Thomas Frieden, who was quoted as saying that taxing sugary drinks at $.01 per ounce could produce $100 billion to $200 billion over the next decade. “Anything that decreases the availability and increases the cost is likely to be effective. The challenge, I think, is a political one of getting that approved,” he said. Frieden further asserted that average American adults are 23 pounds overweight, consume 250 more calories daily than 10 years ago and that about 120 of those calories are from sugary beverages. In a related development, CDC issued a report on…
By a 283-142 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009” (H.R. 2749). The day before its passage, the measure failed to garner the two-thirds majority vote needed to approve legislation submitted under “suspension of the rules,” which would not have allowed any floor amendments. The second submission, on July 30, 2009, needed only a simple majority vote, which was handily achieved. According to news sources, farm-state lawmakers were able to insert several last-minute changes that would exempt some growers from the new farming standards and restrict recordkeeping requirements for livestock farmers. The pork industry apparently kept some proposed restrictions on antibiotic use out of the final bill. Heralded by some as an historic moment for food safety, the bill would provide for more frequent inspections of processing plants and would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to order the…
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