The European Union (EU) has temporarily prohibited the importation of some seeds and bean sprouts from Egypt after a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report linked the products to an E. coli O104:H4 outbreak that reportedly killed 51 people, including as many as six U.S. citizens. According to a July 5, 2011, EU press release, all imported seeds and beans “for sprouting” will be frozen until October 31, 2011, and all fenugreek seeds imported from one Egyptian company since 2009 will be destroyed. The ban apparently covers “seeds, fruit and spores used for sowing; leguminous vegetables, shelled or unshelled, fresh or chilled; fenugreek; dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split; soya beans, whether or not broken; other oil seeds and oleaginous fruit, whether or not broken.” Officials apparently traced the E. coli outbreaks in France and Germany to a single importer that shipped Egyptian fenugreek seeds to both…
Category Archives Issue 401
Japanese officials have reportedly confirmed that beef registering up to seven times more radioactive cesium than permitted has entered the food supply, raising concerns among consumers about the country’s safety precautions. The first batch of tainted beef apparently came from six cattle farmed within 18 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was compromised by an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. After passing external radiation tests, the cattle were sold to butchers in Tokyo—where government workers first detected the contamination—and then to wholesalers and retailers in eight prefectures. A second batch of compromised cattle originated in Asakawa, approximately 37 miles from the power plant, and was shipped to slaughterhouses in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Miyagi prefectures three months ago. In both cases, the cattle allegedly ate rice straw containing 97,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram instead of the 300 becquerels permitted by law, thus causing internal contamination…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) recent decision to exempt genetically engineered (GE) Kentucky bluegrass from federal approval has reportedly stirred debate over how the agency regulates biotech crops, with some critics calling the outcome “a blatant end-run around regulatory oversight.” According to a July 1, 2011, press release, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) dismissed a petition from the Center for Food Safety and International Center for Technology Assessment claiming that GE bluegrass developed by Scotts Miracle-Gro for golf courses should be regulated as a “noxious weed” under the Plant Protection Act. After conducting its assessment, APHIS apparently declined to regulate “Kentucky bluegrass, GE or traditional,” as a federal noxious weed because it does not contain plant pest components. As a July 7 New York Times article further explained, GE crops “are regulated under rules pertaining to plant pests” that “are really meant for pathogens and parasites,…
“House Republicans are siding with food companies resisting the Obama administration’s efforts to pressure them to stop advertising junk food for children,” writes Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in a July 6, 2011, article examining the efforts of individual legislators to stymie proposed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) food marketing guidelines. According to Jalonick, while food companies have lobbied “aggressively” against the proposal, Republican representatives have sought to include a provision in next year’s FTC budget “that would require the government to study the potential costs and impacts of the guidelines before implementing them.” As Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) explained, the guidelines might otherwise “lead to extraordinary pressure from the federal government” on those who do not conform to the voluntary measure. But consumer advocates like the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have disputed this reasoning. “The industry is exaggerating the influence of these voluntary regulations to gin…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a divided en banc ruling, has determined that while an agreement between competitors to share revenues during a labor dispute is not immune from antitrust laws, the district court properly denied a challenge to an agreement between California supermarkets as a per se violation of the Sherman Act or on the basis of a “quick look” antitrust analysis; the Ninth Circuit found that a truncated or abbreviated review process is insufficient to determine whether this type of agreement has affected competition in the relevant market. California v. Safeway, Inc., No. 08-55671 (9th Cir., decided July 12, 2011) (en banc). Details about the court’s previous ruling that the agreement was anticompetitive appear in Issue 361 of this Update. The court’s majority “expressed no opinion on the legality of the arrangement under the rule of reason” (the traditional test for violations of federal antitrust laws) because…
The parents of a 29-year-old who died after he fell into a vat of chocolate have filed a wrongful death action in a Pennsylvania state court against the company that owned the plant where he worked and a number of other defendants involved in manufacturing the allegedly faulty equipment that purportedly led to the accident. Smith v. Lyons & Sons, Inc., No. __ (Pa. Ct. Com. Pleas, Philadelphia Cty., filed July 1, 2011). The decedent allegedly slipped on a cardboard-covered platform made slippery with chocolate and other materials and fell into the vat through unguarded holes. The vat was “processing, mixing and melting chocolate at extremely high temperatures at the time.” Co-workers were allegedly unable to stop the vat from operating because the switch was not located on the platform. Alleging negligence, strict liability and breach of express and implied warranties, the plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $50,000. The…
A multidistrict litigation court in Missouri has denied motions for class certification in 24 transferred cases against companies that make baby bottles and sippy cups allegedly containing bisphenol A (BPA). In re: Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1967 (W.D. Mo., decided July 5, 2011). The plaintiffs sought to certify various classes, including individual state classes and multi state classes as to certain claims and defendants. The court focused on the commonality, predominance and superiority prongs of class certification to conclude that differences in state laws and facts unique to each putative class member rendered the claims unsuitable for class treatment. Still, the court dismissed the requests to certify individual statewide classes without prejudice, finding it appropriate to allow the transferor courts to determine whether these classes met the certification requirements when the cases are returned to their jurisdictions. The court also indicated that it would delay remand…
The Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources has reportedly announced its decision to prohibit all commercial shark fishing in its waters, citing a shark tourism industry that generates $80 million in revenue each year. According to media reports, the ban would encompass 240,000 square miles and protect approximately 40 shark species present in the area. The new protections were purportedly needed after a seafood export firm last year proposed fishing the Bahamas for shark fins, a plan that quickly met resistance from the Bahamas National Trust and the Pew Environment Group. “The Bahamas government is determined to enhance the protection extended to sharks,” stated Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Lawrence Cartwright. “As we are all aware, sharks are heavily fished in many corners of the world’s oceans.” See The Washington Post, July 5, 2011.
According to news sources, the Codex Alimentarius Commission concluded its meeting in Geneva by reaching an agreement on labeling foods that contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients. While the guidance is not mandatory, it would allow countries to label GM foods without risking a legal challenge before the World Trade Organization. National laws based on Codex guidance or standards cannot apparently be challenged as trade barriers. The matter has been debated before the commission, which consists of food safety regulatory agencies and organizations from around the world, for some two decades. Consumer interest organizations were apparently pleased with the agreement, but had urged the commission to adopt mandatory labeling. Still, a Consumers Union scientist reportedly said, “We are particularly pleased that the new guidance recognizes that GM labeling is justified as a tool for post-market monitoring. This is one of the key reasons we want all GM foods to be required…
The European Parliament has reportedly approved new food labeling rules aimed at helping consumers make “better informed, healthier choices.” As outlined in a July 6, 2011, press release, the new regulations will require labels “to spell out a food’s energy content as well as fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt levels, in a way that makes them easy for consumers to read.” To this end, such nutritional information must be presented “in a legible tabular form on the packaging, together and in the same field of vision,” and “expressed per 100g or per 100ml,” with the option of expressing values per portion. Slated to take effect three to five years after publication in the EU Official Journal, the new rules also (i) tighten allergen labeling requirements for both pre-packaged products and non-packaged foods sold in restaurants or canteens; (ii) extend existing country-of-origin labeling laws to fresh meat from…
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