The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) has issued two guidance documents establishing “the scientific requirements for the substantiation of health claims related to functions of the nervous system, including psychological functions, and those related to physical performance.” In particular, the new guidance documents address “which claimed effects are considered to be beneficial physiological effects, and which studies/outcome measures are appropriate for the substantiation of function claims and disease risk reduction claims.” They are the final installments in a series of documents covering health claims related to gut and immune function; antioxidants and cardiovascular health; weight management; and bone, joint and oral health. According to EFSA, the NDA Panel has also finished its further assessment of general function health claims, approving two additional claims that member states substantiated with supplemental data: (i) prunes and normal bowel function, and (ii) alpha-cyclodextrin and a…
Category Archives Issue 449
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule that incorporates certain changes that took effect in January 2012 under the Nice Agreement Concerning the Classification of Goods and Services for the Purpose of the Registration of Marks, to which the United States is a signatory. Among other matters, (i) Class 5 is changed from “dietetic substances adapted for medical use” to “dietary food and substances adapted for medical use”; and (ii) Class 32 is change from “non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks” to “non-alcoholic beverages; fruit beverages.” USPTO’s classification of goods and services under the Trademark Act is codified at 37 CFR part 6. See Federal Register, August 9, 2012.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced an August 27-28, 2012, meeting of its Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) in Washington, D.C. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has specifically asked the committee to report on the types of compensation mechanisms that could be used “to address economic losses by farmers in which the value of their crop is reduced by the presence of GE [genetically engineered] material(s).” The committee will also discuss eligibility standards for triggering these mechanisms as well as other actions that may be appropriate “to bolster or facilitate coexistence among different agricultural systems in the United States.” According to USDA, “AC21 consists of members representing the biotechnology industry, the organic food industry, farming communities, the seed industry, consumer and community development groups, as well as academic researchers and a medical doctor.” Members of the public who wish to the attend the meeting must register…
U.S. Senators Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) recently wrote a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, asking the agency to use its waiver authority “to adjust the corn grain-ethanol mandate of the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS)” in light of ongoing drought conditions. Signed by 26 senators, the bipartisan letter notes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has already rated 50 percent of the nation’s corn crop as poor or very poor while “stressful weather conditions continue to push corn yields lower and prices upward.” The signatories have thus urged EPA to employ some of the “safety valves” built into the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 “that enable the agency to adjust the RFS in the event of inadequate supplies or to prevent economic harm to the country, a region, or a state.” “With record droughts across the United States causing corn supplies…
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