The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that animal rights activists and organizations lack standing to challenge the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) interpretation of a 1958 humane animal slaughtering statute in a manner that excludes poultry from its application. Levine v. Vilsack, No. 08-16441 (9th Cir., decided November 20, 2009). The issue arose in a case alleging that “inhumane methods” of poultry slaughter increased the risk of food-borne illness to plaintiff consumers as well as health and safety dangers to plaintiff poultry workers. The court reversed a district court order granting USDA’s motion for summary judgment and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss. According to the court, the plaintiffs had the burden of establishing that their alleged injury “was likely to be redressed by a favorable court decision.” The key to the court’s redressability determination was that the 1958 law’s only enforcement mechanism was later repealed. If…
Category Archives Issue 329
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a notice seeking public comment on a proposed experimental study that would examine consumer reaction to possible modifications in the nutrition facts labeling format. The study results will reportedly help the agency understand whether label modifications “could help consumers to make informed food choices.” FDA intends to randomly select 3,600 people to review nutrition facts labels from a selection of different formats, foods and nutrition information, and then judge their reactions as to the foods’ “nutritional attributes and overall healthfulness” and whether the labels help “calculate calories and estimate serving sizes to meet objectives.” FDA invites comments on (i) whether the information collected “will have practical utility”; (ii) the “validity of the methodology and assumptions used”; (iii) “ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected”; and (iv) “ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information.”…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule that would amend the agency’s animal-food regulations by requiring manufacturers to list the common or usual names of FDA-certified color additives on animal food labels, including animal feeds and pet foods. The amendment would make the regulations consistent with those that apply to human food and suggests how color additives not certified by FDA should be declared on the ingredient list of animal foods. According to FDA, the proposal responds to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, which modified the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by requiring food labels to list the common or usual names of all FDA-certified color additives. The 1990 amendments apply both to human and animal foods, but apparently regulations pertaining to animal foods have yet to be issued. Written comments will be accepted until February 22, 2010. See Federal Register, November…
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation (S.B. 2819) “to require that food producers take responsibility for keeping food free from harmful pathogens,” according to a November 30, 2009, press release. The Processed Food Safety Act would amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act, Federal Meat Inspection Act and Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to “prohibit the sale of any processed poultry, meat and FDA-regulated food that has not either undergone a pathogen reduction treatment, or been certified to contain no verifiable traces of pathogens.” The Act also includes provisions to (i) require that “labels on ground beef, or any other ground meat product, specifically name every cut of meat that is contained in the product,” and (ii) close loopholes “in current laws that allow for producers to add coloring, synthetic flavorings and spices to their products without informing the consumer.” In announcing the bill, Feinstein highlighted a recent…
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