U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to "delay the issuance of a U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program final rule until 2022 and allow hemp growers and producers across the country and in Upstate New York to continue to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill pilot program regulations until that time." Schumer's press release includes the letter he sent to Secretary Perdue. "[A]s industrial hemp farmers and businesses explore the full benefits of the 2018 Farm Bill, they have experienced serious difficulty integrating the Interim Final Rules into their operations. Particularly in the current COVID climate, I see many farmers and processors in New York struggle with incorporating these changes into the existing state Pilot Programs. In a time when farmers and producers struggle with economic uncertainty, the implementation of the Interim Final Rules will create costs without the support of offsetting revenues."…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule establishing requirements for "gluten-free" labeling for foods with fermented or hydrolyzed ingredients. Under the rule, FDA will evaluate compliance based on records manufacturers will be required to maintain because the agency "knows of no scientifically valid analytical method effective in detecting and quantifying with precision the gluten protein content in fermented or hydrolyzed foods in terms of equivalent amounts of intact gluten proteins." The rule takes effect October 13, 2020.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed its health risk assessment for glycoalkaloids in food and animal feeds, especially in potatoes. "Experts identified a health concern for infants and toddlers, considering both mean and high consumers," the agency's announcement states. "Among adults, there is a health concern for high consumers only. Glycoalkaloids poisoning can cause acute gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea." "Based on the latest available knowledge, EFSA derived a lowest observed adverse effect level of 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight per day. This equates to the lowest dose at which undesired effects are observed," according to the statement. "Peeling, boiling and frying can reduce the content of glycoalkaloids in food. For example, peeling potatoes can reduce their content by between 25 and 75%, boiling in water between 5 and 65%, and frying in oil between 20 and 90%."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting comments on the Agricultural Marketing Service's proposed amendments to organic regulations concerning oversight and enforcement of the production, handling and sale of organic agricultural products. The proposed rule would require the use of National Organic Program Import Certificates for all organic products entering the United States and "[r]educe the types of uncertified entities in the organic supply chain that operate without USDA oversight—including importers, brokers, and traders of organic products." The proposed amendment also contains provisions that would clarify "the method of calculating the percentage of organic ingredients in a multi-ingredient product" and "conditions for establishing, evaluating, and terminating equivalence determinations with foreign government organic programs, based on an evaluation of their organic foreign conformity systems." Comments will be accepted until October 5, 2020.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that several manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have agreed to phase out the use of the material on food packaging, such as fast-food wrappers, to-go boxes and pizza boxes. The phase-out will begin in January 2021 and will occur over three years, with an additional 18 months anticipated to exhaust existing stocks of paper and paperboard products containing PFAS. The announcement coincides with a report from Toxic-Free Future purportedly finding PFAS in the packaging of several restaurants.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued final guidance on inorganic arsenic in rice cereals for infants that sets the action level at 100 micrograms per kilogram, or 100 parts per billion. "FDA has made the determination that this level is achievable based on sampling and testing results," the guidance states. "This guidance applies to all types of infant rice cereals (e.g., white-rice, brown-rice, organically grown, and conventionally grown). Though not binding, the action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals is intended to encourage manufacturers to reduce levels of inorganic arsenic in their products, thus reducing the possible risk for infants fed rice cereal."
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a call for experts to join the Technical Advisory Group on Food Safety: Safer Food for Better Health, which "will serve as an advisory body to WHO through providing technical guidance and inputs to support WHO's efforts and work in food safety by analyzing the current and future challenges in agri-food supply chains, advising innovative solutions and approaches with greatest public health benefits. Eventually, the aim is to strengthen national food safety systems and lower the burden of foodborne illnesses." The organization is taking online applications until August 21, 2020.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a series of measures aimed at limiting advertising for foods high in salt, sugar and fat. The measures include a ban on ads for such foods before 9 p.m., the implementation of calorie counts on food menus and a ban on "buy one get one" deals on some types of foods. The government will also launch "a consultation to gather views and evidence on our current ‘traffic light’ labelling system to learn more about how this is being used by consumers and industry, compared to international examples." The announcement is a reversal from Johnson's previous stance on food advertising limits that he attributed to his diagnosis and recovery from COVID-19. "I've wanted to lose weight for ages and like many people I struggle with my weight," he wrote in The Daily Express. "I go up and down, but during the whole coronavirus epidemic and…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an update for consumers on its 2018 study examining milk allergies and dark chocolate. "U.S. law requires manufacturers to label food products that are major allergens, as well as food products that contain major allergenic ingredients or proteins," the update notes. "Allergens contained in a food product but not named on the label are a leading cause of FDA requests for food recalls, and undeclared milk is the most frequently cited allergen. Chocolates are one of the most common sources of undeclared milk associated with consumer reactions." FDA advised consumers to interpret "may contain" disclosures as "likely to contain," even if the package is also labeled as dairy-free or vegan. "Unfortunately, you can’t always tell if dark chocolate contains milk by reading the ingredients list. FDA researchers found that of 94 dark chocolate bars tested, only six listed milk as an…
Europol and Interpol have announced the seizure of 320 additional tonnes of "counterfeit and substandard food and beverages" following an operation that involved 83 countries, bringing the operation's seizure total to about 12,000 tonnes. "This year’s operational activities have found a new disturbing trend to address: the infiltration of low-quality products into the supply chain, a development possibly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic," the press release notes. The operation, which focused on dairy foods, olive oil, alcohol and horse meat, also identified counterfeit cereals, grains and derived products as well as coffee, tea and condiments.
