The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service has released the final National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS), which will require food manufacturers, importers and other entities to indicate on a product's label whether it was made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The rule applies to food products in which the predominant ingredient is subject to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; "[a] multi-ingredient food product that contains broth, stock, water, or similar solution as the first ingredient, and a meat, poultry, or egg product as the second ingredient on the food label would also not be subject to the NBFDS," according to the announcement. The rule takes effect February 19, 2019, and mandatory compliance with the rule begins on January 1, 2022.
Category Archives Issue
The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), which consolidates 14 Canadian food safety laws into one set of rules, went into effect January 15, 2019. The final rules were published in June 2018 and aim to "provide clear and consistent rules for food commodities so consumers can be confident that food on grocery shelves is safer to eat, whether it is produced in Canada or abroad." The rules align with many U.S. rules to streamline importing and exporting of food products between the countries. In addition, Health Canada has proposed rules for the sale of cannabis, including the proposed creation of "edible cannabis," "cannabis extracts" and "cannabis topicals" classes of products. The agency also proposed "new regulatory controls to address the public health and public safety risks associated with these new classes of cannabis, including their appeal to youth and the risks of accidental consumption, overconsumption, and foodborne illness, among other…
The United Kingdom has launched a public consultation on a proposal to restrict some types of advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). The consultation targets "volume-based price promotions of HFSS food and drink that encourage people to buy more than they need, for example, ‘buy one, get one free’ and free refills of sugary soft drinks" as well as ads placed at "main selling locations in stores, such as checkouts, aisle ends and store entrances." The government further seeks input on "which businesses, products and types of promotions should be included in the restrictions," "definitions for HFSS products, price promotions and locations in stores" and "how businesses can put this into practice and whether they will face any difficulties."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established January 1, 2022, as "the uniform compliance date for food labeling regulations that are published on or after January 1, 2019, and on or before December 31, 2020" to help "minimize the economic impact of label changes." The agency also issued technical amendments to the Nutrition Facts Label Final Rule that correct errors in sample labels and inadvertent omissions of preexisting provisions.
The December passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, or the Farm Bill, has resulted in several publications speculating about the effects of the bill's legalization of industrial hemp on the cannabidiol (CBD) market. The law, which removed "hemp" from the definition of "marijuana" in the Controlled Substances Act, may "make CBD production legal and cheaper," according to Forbes, while MarketWatch explains that CBD "will remain largely off-limits" in the near future. Rolling Stone predicts that CBD is "poised for [a] boom," while Vox suggests that "CBD is bound to become even more visible," although "[i]ts legal status remains unclear." Fortune notes that cultivating hemp will be legal but heavily regulated, and the shutdown of the federal government has delayed cultivation approvals during the period when farmers are planning crop rotations and sourcing seeds for 2019, according to PBS NewsHour. Meanwhile, California legislation banning the use of CBD in…
Following a California settlement, Amazon has reportedly agreed to stop selling foie gras produced from force-fed ducks and geese. The settlement between the company and Los Angeles County stems from a lawsuit alleging that Amazon violated a 2004 California law banning the sale of the products. Under the agreement, Amazon will not sell—or allow its third-party sellers to offer for sale—force-fed foie gras in California for five years. A lawsuit seeking to invalidate the ban awaits a ruling on certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court after the Ninth Circuit found that the statute was not preempted by the Poultry Products Inspection Act.
The Second Circuit has reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that Kellogg Co. misleads consumers by marketing its Cheez-Its as “made with whole grain.” Mantikas v. Kellogg Co., No. 17-2011 (2nd Cir., entered December 11, 2018). The lower court had agreed with Kellogg that the “made with whole grain” label was factually accurate and would not mislead reasonable consumers, and it dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. “Although the district court is correct that an allegedly misleading statement must be viewed ‘in light of its context on the product label or advertisement as a whole,’ [] the court misapplied that principle to Plaintiffs’ claims in this case,” the court held. “Plaintiffs’ core allegation is that the statements ‘Whole Grain’ and ‘Made With Whole Grain’ are misleading because they communicate to the reasonable consumer that the grain in the product is predominantly, if not entirely,…
An Illinois federal court has dismissed a putative class action alleging that Fannie May Confections Brands Inc. underfills its Mint Meltaways and Pixies candy boxes. Benson v. Fannie May Confections Brands Inc., No. 17-3519 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., entered December 10, 2018). The court previously dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint on the grounds that it provided “bare-bones” factual allegations and failed to allege a claim that would not be preempted by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ argument that Fannie May’s 14-ounce boxes contained less slack fill than its seven-ounce boxes, the subject of the complaint. “This type of comparison tells the Court nothing about the slack-fill in the containers in question,” the court found. “The fact that a different container is filled to a different level is not only unsurprising, it is what one would expect.” The court compared the plaintiffs’ allegations with those…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has declined to take action against Bacardi-Martini Ltd. following a complaint that its television ad “was irresponsible because it encouraged immoderate drinking by implying that drinking should take place before and throughout a night out.” In its determination, ASA found that “a sealed bottle of Bacardi rum was shown on several occasions but none of the characters in the ad were shown actually serving or drinking the rum” until the group of characters reaches a bar. “The implication was that the group would drink some of the alcohol during their night out, but we noted that none of the characters shown in the ad seemed to be dancing, moving, or otherwise interacting with each other in a way suggestive of intoxication or excessive alcohol consumption at any point, including in the final scenes,” ASA ruled. “For those reasons we concluded that the ad did…
Oklahoma’s Board of Health has unanimously approved recommendations from the state’s Medical Marijuana Food Safety Standards Board on health and safety requirements for producing cannabis-infused foods, according to Tulsa World. The standards incorporate existing state food regulations but will add stricter criteria and tests, including testing for cannabinoid potency, heavy-metals levels and chemical residues.
