The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services have published a notice announcing the fifth meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Scheduled for February 9, 2010, the meeting will be conducted as an online webinar and is expected to consist of discussions about (i) nutrient adequacy, (ii) energy balance and weight management, (iii) carbohydrates and protein, (iv) sodium, potassium and water, (v) fatty acids and cholesterol, (vi) ethanol, and (vii) food safety. Written comments may be submitted and must be received no later than February 3 for the committee’s consideration before the meeting. Comments may also be submitted at any time “throughout the Committee deliberation process.” To participate in the online program, pre-registration is required. Webinar capacity is limited, and a waiting list will be maintained if necessary. See Federal Register, January 22, 2010.
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U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Calif.) has called for an independent review of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) meat and poultry inspection system, citing the recent recall of approximately 864,000 pounds of beef possibly contaminated with E. coli. Issued by a Montebello, Calif.-based meat packing company, the recall involved ground beef products identified by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) during a recent food safety assessment. In addition, FSIS reportedly flagged some 2008 products based on the establishment’s records. According to DeLauro, an independent board would “support and advise USDA, ensure that the inspection process is rigorous and scientifically robust, and recommend changes to any practices that are insufficiently protecting our food supply.” She further opined that this latest incident, which involved products produced almost two years ago, “is a glaring indication that the current inspection system for meat and poultry is inherently flawed and not sufficient to protect the…
Scientists and others objecting to the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to stimulate milk production in dairy cows have reportedly resubmitted a petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) challenging the new animal drug application approval for an rBGH drug. FDA apparently failed to respond to the original petition, filed in 2007. The petition also requests that dairy products made from cows treated with rBGH be labeled with a health-hazard warning. The petitioners include Samuel Epstein, chair of the Cancer Prevention Coalition; Ronnie Cummins, national director, Organic Consumers Association; Arpad Pusztai, a consultant biologist from Scotland; and Jeffrey Smith, executive director, Institute for Responsible Technology. They claim that rBGH milk poses major cancer and other risks to the U.S. population and that the drug has toxic effects on cows. See World-Wire.com, January 15, 2010.
The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent review of bisphenol A in food contact applications, praising regulators for stopping short of a ban on the ubiquitous chemical but criticizing their concern for “hypothetical and non-existent health risks.” FDA has stated that it now shares the National Toxicology Program’s outlook on “the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children,” and is considering a more aggressive oversight approach. To this end, the agency may seek new authority to govern BPA and its different formulations through the Food Contact Notification Program created in 2000. This regulatory framework not only requires manufacturers to provide detailed analysis on substance applications, but allows FDA to “quickly protect the public by revoking the use through a notice in the Federal Register.” Noting that BPA was first…
A study of microbial contamination in soda fountains within a 22-mile radius of Roanoke, Virginia, claims that nearly one-half of them harbored “coliform bacteria” that could contain fecal matter. Amy S. White, et al., “Beverages obtained from soda fountain machines in the U.S. contain microorganisms, including bacteria,” International Journal of Food Microbiology, January 2010. Researchers studied 90 beverages of three types (sugar sodas, diet sodas and water) from 30 soda fountains (both self-service and staff-operated) to analyze and evaluate microorganisms with respect to U.S. drinking water regulations. They found that 48 percent of the beverages harbored coliform bacteria, 11 percent contained E. coli and 17 percent had Chryseobacterium meningosepticum. The authors speculated that the contamination could have come from “dispensing with a hand that wasn’t clean or using wet rags to wipe down the machine.” “These findings suggest that soda fountain machines may harbor persistent communities of potentially pathogenic microorganisms which may contribute to…
Two recent studies have reportedly suggested that obesity rates in America have remained constant for at least five years among men and closer to 10 years for women and children. Using data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers concluded that although approximately 32 percent of men and 35 percent of women are obese, “the increases in the prevalence of obesity previously observed do not appear to be continuing at the same rate over the past 10 years, particularly for women and possibly for men.” In addition, a separate study apparently found a similar plateau in obesity rates for children. “Right now we’ve halted the progress of the obesity epidemic,” William Dietz, CDC’s Director of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, was quoted as saying. “The data are really promising. That said, I don’t think we have in place the kind…
A recent study has claimed that “higher urinary concentrations of bisphenol A [BPA] are associated with an increased prevalence of coronary heart disease.” David Melzer, et al., “Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06,” PLoS ONE, January 2010. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003/04 and 2005/06, researchers examined the urinary BPA concentrations of participants aged 18-74 years, “representative of the general adult population of the United States.” According to the authors, “Associations have previously been reported between urinary BPA concentrations and heart disease, diabetes and liver enzymes in adults participants of [NHANES] 2003/04.” The 2005/06 NHANES data purportedly confirmed that “higher BPA exposure, reflected in higher urinary concentrations of BPA, is consistently associated with reported heart disease in the general adult population of the USA.” The study noted, however, that “Associations between urinary BPA concentrations and diabetes or…
The Canadian government has announced a January 20, 1010, webcast titled “Health Claims in Canada: An Update on Function Claims and Probiotic Claims for Food.” Presented by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Webcast will (i) “provide an update on the development of a modernized framework for health claims for food and the future directions for managing health claims”; (ii) “present new guidance on function claims and probiotic claims, and the requirements for scientific evidence to validate claims” and (iii) provide insights into CFIA’s enforcement approach.
Shook, Hardy & Bacon Of Counsel Jim Andreasen has co-authored an article providing an update on the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI’s) draft national standard for sustainable agriculture. The article appears in the January 2010 issue of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Agricultural Management Committee Newsletter. This committee is part of the ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. The article outlines the draft standard’s development to date and the potential impact it could have once finalized. According to the article, the draft “as initially proposed would promote a non-GMO [genetically modified organism], organic, and fair trade (i.e., fair labor) standard for agriculture that exceeds nearly all existing organic and nonorganic practices in U.S. agriculture.” The draft has undergone a number of changes, including a narrowing of its scope, since its introduction, and the committee working to develop it has expanded to include some industry interests. The article also discusses…
A California court of appeal recently determined that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) preempts point-of-sale or other warning labels on meat products under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65). Am. Meat Inst. v. Leeman, No. D053325 (Cal. Ct. App., decided December 22, 2009). In 2004, Whitney Leeman notified a number of meat processors and retailers in California that she intended to file a citizen suit against them alleging violations of Prop. 65 for their failure to provide warnings that their beef products contained dioxins and PCBs, chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. The companies’ trade association filed a complaint seeking declaratory relief, and the trial court, finding implied, but not express, federal preemption, granted the association’s motion for summary judgment. The court of appeal focused for the most part on defining “labeling,” because Leeman argued that point-of-sale warnings do not constitute labeling under the FMIA, which contains…
