Danone has reportedly decided not to pursue its applications to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to approve beneficial health claims for two of its yogurt products, Actimel® and Activia®. According to a news source, the company took the action because of changes to European regulation of health claims. Previously, each member state’s regulatory authority decided whether these claims could be made; the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority, for example, prohibited an Actimel® TV advertisement in 2009, ruling that evidence did not support company claims that the product could help protect school-age children from illness. Going forward, EFSA will approve advertising health claims, but procedures and criteria to do so are apparently under development. Danone will participate in an EFSA consultation meeting scheduled for June 1, 2010. See BBC News, April 15, 2010.
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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published safety reassessments of three food additives, Brilliant Black (E 151), Brown HT (E 155) and Brown FK (E 154). For Brilliant Black, which first gained approval in 1984, EFSA has confirmed the existing acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 5 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight (mg/kg bw). According to the scientific panel, Brilliant Black is used in soft drinks, bakery products and desserts, but “only some children who regularly consume large amounts of foods containing the color might exceed this level of intake.” EFSA, however, has recommended decreasing by one-half the ADI for Brown HT, setting the new limit at 1.5 mg/kg bw after “adverse effects, such as slightly reduced weight gain, were noted in animals following long-term exposure” to the additive. The reviewers also expressed concern that “exposure to Brown HT could be above the new ADI for adults and children who…
A committee of European Union (EU) member state officials has reportedly decided to cease imposing U.S. rice import restrictions which had been in place since 2006 when genetically modified (GM) rice was found in conventional rice supplies. U.S. rice could be sold in the EU over the past four years only if certified as free from GM rice. Rice farmers in the United States have cited the EU restrictions in litigation against the company that manufactured the GM rice; the farmers have prevailed in several lawsuits, winning both compensatory and punitive damages for the precipitous drop in prices paid for their crops after the EU and Japan essentially closed their borders to all U.S. rice. According to a news source, the 2009 rice crop has been found to be free of LL Rice 601, and the EU has been assured that U.S. rice exporters will continue to test rice exported to…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced the sixth and final meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which is soliciting public comment on its draft report titled “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” USDA and HHS publish the report at least every five years “after a thorough review of the most current scientific and applied literature.” Topics to be discussed in the May 12, 2010, meeting include (i) “Nutrient Adequacy”; (ii) “Energy Balance and Weight Management”; (iii) “Carbohydrates and Protein”; (iv) “Sodium, Potassium and Water”; (v) “Fatty Acids and Cholesterol”; (vi) “Alcohol”; and (vii) “Food Safety and Technology.” Comments are requested by April 29, 2010. See Federal Register, April 20, 2010.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a request for comments and scientific data “that would assist the agency in its plans to conduct a risk profile for pathogens and filth in spices.” FDA has requested input on specific hazards, including “microbiological pathogens and filth in spices that are identified and published in literature, outbreaks, recalls, and submissions to the Reportable Food Registry.” The agency seeks data related to incidences of contamination; factors that influence the survival, growth and levels of pathogens; spice consumption patterns in the United States; intended use; manufacturing practices; the effectiveness of control measures for pathogens; and supplier requirements for microbial testing and audit programs. Designed to assist FDA in its regulatory decision making, the spice risk profile aims to describe the nature and extent of the public health risk, evaluate mitigation processes, and identify additional control options, further research needs and data gaps. It…
The Cornucopia Institute has called for action by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to stop what it alleges is the misleading practice of companies using the word “organic” in their names while selling foods not certified organic. In its April 22, 2010, letter to the USDA’s deputy administrator, the institute contends that the agency has the authority “to take enforcement action against the misuse of the term ‘Organic’ in company names.” It specifically cites Oskri Organics, Organic Bistro and Newman’s Own Organics as companies that sell a variety of food products some of which, but not all, are certified organic. According to the institute, this practice “is not only highly misleading to consumers, but also in violation of the organic standards.” The letter addressed to the FTC chair calls the practice a violation of unfair competition law and calls for a formal investigation…
A coalition of groups representing farmers, public health, environmental, and organic food interests has submitted a comment to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeking changes to the draft position on labeling genetically modified (GM) products that the U.S. Codex delegate plans to bring to the May 3-7, 2010, meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling. The coalition calls for the U.S. delegate to support “a Codex document that simply states that countries can adopt different approaches to labeling of GM/GE foods, in line with existing Codex guidance.” According to the April 20 letter, the current U.S. position opposing that document “could potentially create significant problems for food producers in the US who wish to indicate that their products contain no GE ingredients, including on organic food, where genetic engineering is a prohibited method.” The signatories, including the Consumers Union, Union of Concerned…
At the request of Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has prepared and released a report titled “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States.” Starting from the premise that “Americans consume unhealthy amounts of sodium in their food,” which puts some 100,000 at risk of premature death from conditions related to high blood pressure, the report calls for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “set mandatory national standards for the sodium content in foods—not banning outright the addition of salt to foods but beginning the process of reducing excess sodium in processed foods and menu items to a safer level.” According to IOM, this reduction must be carried out gradually so consumers’ tastes could adjust, a process that could take up to 10 years. Other recommendations include an FDA modification of the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of sodium-containing compounds added to processed foods—“that is, change…
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently profiled Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and his decades-long advocacy of soft drink taxes, an idea that once attracted derision but today “doesn’t seem so radical.” The Chronicle notes “growing evidence of a link between price and consumption,” citing recent reports that appear to lend credence to Brownell’s crusade. Despite opposition from free market economists, the beverage industry and groups like the Center for Consumer Freedom, the proposal has purportedly gained traction in legislative circles, rippling outwards from cities and states to the upper echelons of federal government. Counted among these supporters is Thomas Frieden, who once co-authored a paper with Brownell and now directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, according to The Chronicle, “[t]he professor is aware that the renewed interest in his idea is, at least in part, prompted by the budget…
The Independent has reported on an escalating dispute in the scientific community over the safety of bisphenol A (BPA), tracing the brouhaha to a three-year study commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that found no evidence of BPA adversely affecting laboratory rats exposed to high doses of the ubiquitous plasticizer. In an April 13, 2010, article, science editor Steve Connor observes that Toxicological Sciences, which published the original work online in 2009, has become the battleground of choice for scientists arguing the merits of the research. Additional details about the EPA study appear in issue 327 of this Update. According to The Independent, University of Missouri-Columbia Professor Frederick vom Saal first attacked the results in a letter to the journal, claiming that EPA researchers “violated U.S. National Toxicology Program recommendations” by failing to establish “the sensitivity of the animal model to the class of chemical being tested.” This allegation,…
