A New York bankruptcy court will reportedly allow Chemtura Corp. to resolve 90 percent of the respiratory disease claims pending against it for $50 million, or one-third of the $150 million sought by factory workers allegedly exposed to the popcorn-flavoring ingredient diacetyl. In re: Chemtura Corp., No. 09-11233 (S.D.N.Y., settlement approved August 23, 2010). Responding to claims by co-defendants that the settlement may not meet “good faith” requirements, the court reportedly indicated that it was “within the range of reasonableness.” The settlement will apparently resolve 15 lawsuits and 347 proofs of claim filed by individuals alleging personal injury from diacetyl exposure. The company has indicated that eight additional individual and five corporate diacetyl claims remain pending. According to a news source, the company has also reached an agreement with its insurers to cover half the cost of the settlement and provide up to a maximum of $10 million to indemnify…
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued an interim final rule that extends until October 1, 2012, the allowance for methionine in organic poultry production. Effective October 1, 2010, the interim rule allows organic operations to use synthetic methionine at the following maximum limits per ton of poultry feed: (i) four pounds for laying chickens; (ii) five pounds for broiler chickens; and (iii) six pounds for turkeys and all other poultry. According to an August 24, 2010, press release, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in April 2010 called for amending the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances to permit the continued use of synthetic methionine, an amino acid essential for poultry health and development, because its prohibition would “cause substantial economic hardship” for producers. In addition, NOSB has recommended extending the allowance beyond October 1, 2012, to October 1, 2015, while decreasing “the maximum…
Linking a Salmonella Typhi outbreak to frozen mamey fruit pulp, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has urged consumers to discard La Nuestra® or Goya® fruit products in their possession and find out what brand is in use by street vendors before purchasing the mamey fruit-based juices and fruit shakes they sell. At least nine consumers in California and Nevada have apparently developed typhoid fever from the outbreak. FDA has also indicated that it will increase its border sampling to prevent contaminated product from entering the United States. See Product Liability Law 360, August 20, 2010.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released draft and final guidance to assist restaurateurs and vending machine operators in implementing the labeling provisions set out in section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Act requires food retail establishments with 20 or more locations to post the calorie content for standard items on menus and menu boards; provide additional nutrition information in writing; and post calorie information for self-serve items and foods on display. The draft document offers proposed guidance on the execution of these standards, while the final explains the impact of the federal measure on state and local laws. According to an August 24, 2010, FDA press release, the agency “realizes that industry may need additional information and time to comply with the new provisions, and that the agency expects to refrain from enforcement action for a time period that will be provided…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced two public meetings to consider the labeling of food derived from genetically engineered (GE) salmon. During the first meeting slated for September 19-20, 2010, the Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee will address general scientific issues surrounding GE animals, statutory and regulatory constraints, and “a new animal drug application (NADA) concerning AquAdvantage salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc.,” which has inserted Chinook and ocean pout genes into Atlantic salmon to accelerate maturation. In addition, FDA has called a September 21, 2010, public hearing to explain “the relevant legal principles for food labeling and to solicit information and views from interested persons on the application of these principles to food derived from AquAdvantage Salmon.” FDA has specifically invited participants to consider the following: (i) “Which facts about the AquAdvantage Salmon seem most pertinent for FDA’s consideration of whether there are any ‘material’ differences between foods…
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) appropriations subcommittee, is seeking information from the agencies about the unfolding Salmonella outbreak linked to two Iowa egg producers. Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) have also stepped into the massive egg recall, requesting information from the same agencies and demanding documents and information from the egg company owners. Stupak’s oversight subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has scheduled a September 14, 2010, hearing into the matter and has apparently invited Wright County Egg owner Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Hillandale Farms owner Orland Bethel to testify. More than a half-billion eggs, representing less than 1 percent of the U.S. egg supply, have been recalled after an upswing in Salmonella cases came to the attention of state regulators and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention beginning in May.…
President Barack Obama (D) recently announced his intention to “recess appoint” Elisabeth Hagen as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) under secretary for food safety. According to a White House press release, Hagen is among four key administrative nominees who have waited an average of 303 days for Senate confirmation. Obama said he chose to appoint all the nominees while Congress was away on its August recess in accordance with his “authority to do what is best for the American people. At a time when our nation faces so many pressing challenges, I urge members of the Senate to stop playing politics with our highly qualified nominees and fulfill their responsibilities of advice and consent.” Hagen is currently the USDA’s chief medical officer and senior executive within USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was quoted as saying that Hagen’s background “will enable her to successfully lead…
Overweight Americans ages 2 to 19 have become heavier over the last decade, according to a newly published study. May Beydoun & Youfa Wang, “Sociodemographic disparities in distribution shifts over time in various adiposity measures among American children and adolescents: What changes in prevalence rates could not reveal,” International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, August 2010. Conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute on Aging, the study used population data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine changes in the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST) of boys and girls across sociodemographic groups. According to Wang, the data showed significant weight gains that were “unequally distributed” across the demographic groups and spectrums of BMI, WC and TST. “Heavier children and adolescents gained more adiposity, especially waist size, and these findings were most significant among children…
A recent study has purportedly linked consumption of carbonated diet sodas with an increased risk of premature birth. Thorhallur Halldorsson, et al., “Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study of 59,334 Danish pregnant women,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 30, 2010. Researchers evaluated data from approximately 60,000 pregnancies tracked in Denmark between 1996 and 2002. According to the study, women in the middle of their pregnancies who drank at least one diet soft drink daily were 38 percent more likely to have a premature baby before 37 weeks of pregnancy than those who abstained. In addition, women who drank at least four such products per day were at a 78 percent risk of early delivery. The researchers claimed that “no association was observed for sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks or for sugar-sweetened noncarbonated soft drinks” and suggested that more studies are needed…
The U.K. Royal Society has published 21 papers addressing concerns that climate change, water shortages and increased demand will disrupt the global food supply in coming decades. Titled Food Security: Feeding the World in 2050, the compendium challenges citizens, politicians and scientists “to increase food production, but to do so in a way that is sustainable, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and preserving biodiversity.” To meet these objectives, the papers recommend several low-tech solutions, such as better storage facilities to reduce food waste, as well as novel technologies. The latter include (i) artificial meat “grown in a vat,” and (ii) increased use of nanotechnology, which paper author Philip K. Thornton said “is expected to become more important as a vehicle for delivering medication to livestock.” As Chief Scientific Advisor John Beddington urges in the volume’s preface, “The need for action is urgent given the time required for investment in research to…
