California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) held a “pre-regulatory workshop” on September 25, 2009, to present to stakeholders its proposed warning program for exposures to Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) chemicals in foods sold at retail. According to a news source, industry representatives raised “significant” concerns over the draft proposal, which would require producers to place product-specific warning information on an internet database and retailers to access the information and select from a “menu” of options to communicate product warnings to the public. A spokesperson for the California Grocers Association reportedly complained that, as drafted, the existing plan would be impossible to comply with. She claimed that grocery stores should be able to make binders available to shoppers containing warning summaries for different foods. The effect on small grocers is also apparently an issue, and OEHHA counsel called on stakeholders to submit comments on how “small” retailers could…
Category Archives Issue 321
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced the availability of a new general food defense plan developed by the Office of Data Integration and Food Protection, with input from small and very small establishments. FSIS has notified facilities identified in a 2008 survey as lacking a food defense program about the voluntary general plan, which aims to “reduce the chances of someone intentionally contaminating the food supply in order to kill or hurt people, disrupt [the] economy, or ruin [their] business.” Designed to reduce company liability, the general food defense plan includes sections on (i) outside security measures, (ii) inside security measures, (iii) personnel security measures, and (iv) incident report security measures. FSIS will also conduct a second food defense survey in December 2009. See Meatingplace.com, September 30, 2009.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union (EU) have announced separate plans to study nanotechnology, a field believed to have huge potential in food processing and packaging. EPA’s strategy involves studying over the next several years how manufactured nanomaterials may harm human health and the environment. “EPA’s role among federal agencies is to determine the potential hazards of nanotechnology and develop approaches to reduce or minimize any risks identified,” according to an EPA news release. The research will use a “multidisciplinary approach that examines all aspects of nanomaterials in the environment, from their manufacture and use to their disposal or recycling.” EU plans to develop a strategy on how best to reap the economic benefits of nanotechnology because of its “exceptional importance for being at the forefront of managing the shift to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy,” according to an EU news release. “Mastering such technologies lays [a]…
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson has urged Congress to pass sweeping legislative reform of the country’s chemical management law and announced plans to review the controversial food-packaging chemical bisphenol A and the perfluorinated chemicals used in nonstick cookware. In a September 29, 2009, speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Jackson claimed that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has “fallen behind the industry it’s supposed to regulate. It’s been proven an inadequate tool for providing the protection against chemical risks that the public rightfully expects,” she said, declaring that as “more and more chemicals are found in our bodies and the environment, the public is understandably anxious and confused.” Legislation to strengthen TSCA is expected to be introduced soon. The Obama administration has issued “Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation,” to aid Congress during the legislative process. The six principles would give EPA the…
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