A federal magistrate in Florida has denied the plaintiffs’ request in multidistrict litigation challenging marketing claims that DHA Omega-3-fortified milk supports brain health to reconsider an earlier order excluding the testimony of their expert. In re Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA Omega-3 Mktg. & Sales Practice Litig., MDL No. 2324 (S.D. Fla., order entered June 17, 2014). Details about the magistrate’s ruling excluding the plaintiffs’ expert appear in Issue 522 of this Update. The magistrate rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments for their failure to raise them when the motion to exclude the evidence was before him and determined that an intervening U.S. Food and Drug Administration final nutrient content rule on DHA is not new evidence and does not address the ground on which the magistrate struck the expert—his failure to show how the studies on which he relied could be extrapolated to cover the broad class of product purchasers. Issue…
Category Archives Issue 528
In a unanimous vote, the California Senate has voted to repeal a new provision in the health code requiring restaurant workers to wear gloves when handling food. The provision took effect in January 2014 throughout California with a compliance grace period set to end in July 2014. The measure was intended to curb foodborne illness, but restaurant industry workers petitioned to repeal the provision, arguing that hand washing is as effective as wearing gloves without the added financial or environmental cost. They also suggested that gloves would add a false sense of security because, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gloved workers were less likely than ungloved workers to wash their hands when they should. Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), author of the bill to repeal the provision, was quoted as saying, “It is the industry standard in restaurants to prioritize cleanliness when handling food,…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) has issued a scientific opinion on the risk posed by Salmonella and norovirus in fresh and frozen berries. According to BIOHAZ, which reviewed the limited data pertaining to the prevalence of these foodborne pathogens in berries, the risk factors for contamination are likely to include environmental conditions, contact with animal reservoirs and insufficiently treated compost, the use of contaminated water for irrigation or chemical applications, and cross-contamination by harvesters, food handlers or equipment. To mitigate these risks, BIOHAZ urges primary producers to implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems as well as Good Agricultural Practices, Good Hygiene Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). More specifically, the scientific opinion identifies Norovirus in frozen raspberries and strawberries as “an emerging public health risk,” stressing the need for additional data to develop microbiological criteria for improved control of norovirus in…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a report that attributes the loss of approximately 2.5 million years of potential life, one in 10 deaths of working-aged adults and $223.5 billion in health-care and productivity costs annually to excessive drinking. The study examined data from CDC’s Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application for 2006 to 2010 to calculate the number of deaths that could be attributed to alcohol based on a list of 54 alcohol-related causes, including immediate deaths due to, for example, alcohol poisoning, as well as deaths from alcohol-related diseases like liver cirrhosis. The researchers focused especially on excessive alcohol use, defined as binge drinking (on a per-occasion standard), heavy drinking (on a drinks-per-week standard), pregnant drinking, and drinking by minors. “This analysis illustrates the magnitude and variability of the health consequences of excessive alcohol consumption in the United States,” the researchers conclude. "More widespread implementation of…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its final guidance on the use of nanotechnology in food as well as draft guidance on use of the technology in animal food. Rather than categorically judging nanotech as either safe or harmful, the agency indicated that it will consider specific characteristics of products with nanotech as they are produced. Among FDA’s nonbinding recommendations are encouragement for food manufacturers’ considerations of composition, safety and regulatory status as well as assurance that the guidance does not change the status of products already generally recognized as safe. The agency also recommends that manufacturers assess whether their implementation of nanotech will change their safety and regulatory status by determining what the physiochemical changes of the food product may be and invites consultations with the FDA about those determinations. “Our goal remains to ensure transparent and predictable regulatory pathways, grounded in the best available science,…
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have introduced the Pathogens Reduction and Testing Reform Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue food recalls for meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as Salmonella. Citing better protections for consumers and past deference to voluntary recalls as support for their bill, the lawmakers argue in a prepared statement that “USDA has failed to recall meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens because they do not believe they have the legal authority to do so. This bill would ensure there is no confusion.” The measure would require USDA to recall meat, poultry and egg products contaminated by illness-causing pathogens resistant to two or more classes of antibiotics commonly used to treat human illnesses. See The Washington Post, June 25, 2014. Issue 528
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