Sweden has banned the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging intended for children younger than age 3. Mainly affecting the lids of baby food jars, the April 13, 2012, edict also gave the Swedish Chemicals Agency three months to investigate whether the chemical should be prohibited in certain types of thermal paper, such as tickets and receipts, and other relevant agencies the opportunity to determine the extent of its use in drinking-water pipes, toys and other children’s goods. Minister for the Environment Lena Ek, who said she plans to raise the BPA issue soon with the European Commission and European Union (EU) member states, noted that the ban ensures that the country’s current voluntary phaseout of BPA-free packaging becomes permanent. “As a matter of caution, we are now acting in all areas that the agencies believe play a significant role in the exposure of young children,” she said.…
Category Archives Issue 436
The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has released its fourth Food Surveillance Information Sheet analyzing acrylamide and furan levels in 248 retail products from 10 food groups. Conducted from 2007 to 2011, the survey apparently revealed “an upward trend in acrylamide levels in processed cereal-based baby foods (excluding rusks), and a reduction in other products, such as pre-cooked French fries, potato products for home cooking and bread.” Although FSA did not note any concern for human health risks, it reported that, of the 248 products surveyed, 13 samples contained acrylamide levels “that exceeded the ‘indicative value’ (IV) for their food group” and therefore warrant investigation by “the relevant local authority.” “The Agency advises that chips should be cooked to a light golden color. Bread and bread products should also be toasted to the lightest color possible,” stated FSA, which will send its findings to the European Food Safety Authority for…
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has reportedly filed a legal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) “is engaging in deceptive advertising related to animal well-being in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act,” according to an April 18, 2012, press release. In particular, the complaint apparently maintains that NPPC’s “We Care Initiative” and “Pork Quality Assurance [PQA] Plus” program “are riddled with numerous false claims regarding the welfare of pigs, including the trade group’s patently false claim that its PQA Plus program helps to ‘ensure that all animals in the pork industry continue to receive humane care and handling.’” In support of these assertions, HSUS claims to have documented pork industry practices “that most consumers do not consider humane such as the extreme confinement of breeding sows in two-foot-wide metal cages, and painful procedures such as tail ‘docking,’…
The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has issued a final rule ordering “the disclosure of the presence of cochineal extract and carmine on the labels of any alcohol beverage containing one or both of these color additives.” According to TTB, the rule responds to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation that took effect on January 5, 2011, and requires manufacturers to label these two additives on all food and cosmetic products due to the potential for severe allergic reactions. Effective March 16, 2012, with a final compliance date of April 16, 2013, the TTB rule notes that FDA does not compel labels to disclose that cochineal extract and carmine are derived from insects native to subtropical South America and Mexico. In issuing its final decision, TTB rejected one comment that called for listing the additives’ source despite industry concerns that some consumers “would find the thought…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance that, in part, addresses the use of nanotechnology in food processing. Among other matters, “FDA considers food manufacturing processes that involve nanotechnology in the same manner as any other food manufacturing technology,” although the agency also apparently recognizes that “nanotechnology and other emerging technologies may introduce issues that warrant additional or different evaluation during a safety assessment of a food substance. For example, so-called nano engineered food substances can have significantly altered bioavailability and may, therefore, raise new safety issues that have not been seen in their traditionally manufactured counterparts.” Accordingly, FDA states, “When a food substance is manufactured to include a particle size distribution shifted more fully into the nanometer range, safety assessments should be based on data relevant to the nanometer version of the food substance. Where nano engineered food substances have new properties, additional or different testing…
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