French Health Minister Marisol Touraine has reportedly proposed a law that would establish standards for ingredient transparency in mass-produced food, blank cigarette packets and “fixing rooms” that allow drug addicts to inject themselves in a safer environment, as well as impose fines—or possible jail sentences up to one year—for selling “products that make alcohol appear pleasant.” The draft law’s binge drinking provisions have attracted media attention for their seeming contradiction with French culture, but a 2013 report from France’s National Institute for Prevention and Education in Health found that excessive consumption of alcohol among French young people is rising, with as many as one in six children between ages 11 and 14 reporting that they have been drunk at least once. Under the proposed law, “Directly provoking a minor to excessive consumption of alcohol will be punished by a year imprisonment and a fine of €15,000.” The law would reportedly…
Category Archives Issue 542
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a scientific opinion calling chronic dietary exposure to perchlorate a potential concern, “in particular for the high consumers in younger age groups of the population with mild to moderate iodine deficiency.” In addition to considering scientific literature on perchlorate levels in fruit juices, alcohol beverages, milk, and infant formula and breast milk, EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) analyzed 4,731 fruit and vegetable samples to estimate chronic and short-term exposure to perchlorate in the food chain. The report also identified several contamination sources, including natural fertilizers, industrial emissions and chlorine-based products that degrade to perchlorate. According to the CONTAM Panel, which found the highest mean perchlorate concentrations in leafy vegetables and herbs, the average chronic dietary exposure for adults ranged from a minimum lower bound (LB) of 0.03 µg/kg body weight (bw) per day to a maximum upper bound…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report assessing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) current approach to Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken and turkey products and recommending that the agriculture secretary direct the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to take steps to improve the approach. The report reviews past USDA action on these pathogens, including the establishment of standards limiting Campylobacter contamination and the tightening of existing Salmonella contamination standards. GAO recommended that the agriculture secretary direct FSIS to develop Salmonella and Campylobacter performance measures to monitor whether efforts to bring processing plants into compliance with the poultry products standards are meeting the agency’s goals. GAO also recommended that effectiveness measures be included in future revisions of compliance guidelines for controlling the pathogens. According to the report, USDA agrees with the recommendations. Issue 542
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has scheduled a November 13, 2014, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to solicit stakeholder comments and respond to questions about revisions to four rules first proposed in 2013 to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The proposals address (i) Preventive Controls for Human Food, (ii) Produce Safety, (iii) Preventive Controls for Animal Food, and (iv) Foreign Supplier Verification Programs. Information about registration and making oral presentations may be found at FDA’s website. See Federal Register, October 23, 2014. Issue 542
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have scheduled a meeting of the 14-member committee charged with developing the federal government’s “2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” for November 7, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. The meeting is accessible to the public by Webcast only and registration is required to view the proceedings. Aimed at promoting consumption of foods and beverages that assist in maintaining a healthy weight and preventing disease, the guidelines were first issued in 1980, are revised every five years and provide the basis for federal food and nutrition policy and education efforts. The next iteration of the guidelines will be published during fall 2015. Information about the November 7 meeting agenda, Webcast registration and the committee’s requests for written comments may be found at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s website. See Federal Register, October 20,…
Confirming early reports discussed in Issue 536 of this Update, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has again ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico regarding U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations requiring pork and beef products originating outside of the United States to bear labels indicating where each step in the production process occurred. The compliance panel found that the measure “accords to Canadian and Mexican livestock less favorable treatment than that accorded to like US livestock.” The panel also found that the rule’s 2013 amendment “increases the original COOL measure’s detrimental impact on the competitive opportunities of important livestock in the US market, because it necessitates increased segregation of meat and livestock according to origin; entails a higher recordkeeping burden; and increases the original COOL measure’s incentive to choose domestic over imported livestock.” Following the decision’s release, Mexican and Canadian trade officials issued a joint statement calling the COOL rule “a…
Global Product Liability Partners Gregory Fowler and Marc Shelley have co-authored an article titled “Food and beverage labelling and advertising in the United States: Regulatory and litigation landmines,” appearing in the September 2014 issue of the International Bar Association’s Product Law and Advertising Newsletter. The article considers the public and private challenges facing U.S. food and beverage companies that promote their products as beneficial to health, “natural” or “all natural,” or include in their products genetically modified ingredients, high-fructose corn syrup or “evaporated cane juice.” The authors address trends in consumer-fraud lawsuits and settlements, competitor litigation and suits brought by morality and decency watchdogs. The article concludes by recommending the inclusion of a legal team in marketing strategies to enhance the likelihood that companies will successfully navigate these risks while distinguishing themselves in the marketplace. Issue 542
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