Responding to food manufacturers’ requests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published industry guidance to clarify when fruit and vegetable juices “may be used as color additives for foods without additional premarket review and approval from the agency under its color additive petition process.” Under current regulations, the agency provides that “the safety of fruit juice and vegetable juice as color additives for use in food is assured by the fact that the fruit or vegetable from which the color additive is derived has been safely consumed as food, such that there would not be safety concerns in using the juice or water soluble color components from the fruit or vegetable as a color additive.” In particular, FDA clarifies what it means by the terms “fruit,” “vegetable,” “mature,” “fresh,” and “edible,” as well as “expressing the juice” and “water infusion of the dried fruit or vegetable.” The agency…
Category Archives Issue 626
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has denied a February 9, 2012, petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that requested “a performance standard of non-detectable as determined by the best available method of detection for Vibrio vulnificus in molluscan shellfish intended for raw or processed raw consumption.” Citing V. vulnificus as “the leading cause of seafood-associated deaths in the United States,” the petition notes that FDA already enforces a zero tolerance standard for V. vulnificus in ready-to-eat fish and a non-detectable standard of less than 30 most probable numbers per gram (MPN/g) for post-harvest processed shellfish. According to CSPI, the Food Safety Modernization Act directs the agency to set performance standards for significant foodborne contaminants. In rejecting the petition, FDA notes that other strategies—including state adherence to and federal oversight of control measures designed to manage V. vulnificus risk—have effectively reduced oyster-associated V.…
12
