California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has requested comments on proposed changes to the requirements pertaining to scientific experts appointed to Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) advisory committees by the governor. The proposed revisions would specify the expertise required—completion of a doctoral degree and research experience in an area of specialization, along with demonstrated “ongoing expertise in the conduct of advanced scientific work of relevance to the identification of carcinogenic chemicals [or “that pose reproductive or developmental hazards”] using generally accepted and scientifically valid principles and methodologies.” The proposal would also remove certain financial disclosure provisions now redundant given the addition of advisory committee members to OEHHA’s Conflict of Interest Code. Comments are requested by December 9, 2013. Issue 501
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
India’s Supreme Court has reportedly accepted a government scientific panel’s finding that the chemical additives in soft drinks— e.g., artificial sweeteners, phosphoric acid, carbon dioxide, coloring agents, benzoic acid, and caffeine—are well within safety levels and do not pose a health hazard to citizens. According to a news source, the Union government insisted that the Food Supply and Standards Act, 2006, along with its rules and regulations, constituted a “vigorous regulatory regime and [was] being implemented meticulously.” At the same time, however, the court ordered the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India to monitor and conduct regular checks of all carbonated soft drinks sold in the country, indicating that the matter relates to citizens’ fundamental right to life guaranteed under the Constitution. The order was passed by a bench composed of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri, who were hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the establishment of an independent…
Mexico’s lower house has reportedly approved a new fiscal package that would, among other things, tax high-calorie foods—such as chocolate, sweets, pudding, potato chips, and ice cream. The new tax, which complements a planned charge on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) discussed in Issue 497 of this Update, is part of a broader package proposed by President Enrique Peña and is expected to pass in the Senate by the end of the October. According to news sources, the proposed legislation would tax high-calorie foods—defined as those providing 275 calories or more per 100 grams—at 5 percent of the ticketed price and chewing gum at 16 percent. The price of soft drinks would increase by about 8 cents per liter. The move is supported by health experts who note that Mexico has one of the world’s highest rates of obesity, reportedly surpassing the United States, and who applauded higher prices for chips, candy and…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances Used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) has issued guidance to assist applicants “in the preparation and submission of technical dossiers for the renewal of the authorization of additives for use in animal nutrition.” According to EFSA, EU regulations require applicants to renew feed additive authorizations every 10 years by submitting stand-alone dossiers that take into account “the most up-to-date scientific knowledge” as well as “the current scientific/methodological approaches.” Although the information included in each dossier will depend on “the additive nature, the functional group, the substance itself, the target animals, and the conditions of use,” the submission must enable regulators to assess the additive in question “based on the current state of knowledge” and to determine whether the additive complies with the “fundamental principles for the renewal of authorization.” “During the last years, the FEEDAP Panel has developed several guidance…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has developed new guidance, titled “FSIS Compliance Guide for a Systematic Approach to the Humane Handling of Livestock,” that outlines a set of practices for livestock slaughter establishments that support the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Noting that the agency has taken “significant” measures during the past few years to strengthen its ability to enforce humane handling laws at livestock slaughter facilities nationwide, FSIS Administrator Al Almanza said that the guidance will assist facilities in “minimizing excitement, discomfort and accidental injury” of animals presented for slaughter. FSIS has also reiterated its intent to better equip employees to prevent and respond to inhumane handling incidents by delivering “more practical, situation-based humane handling training to inspectors and veterinarians who verify and enforce humane handling requirements at livestock slaughter establishments.” The training covers various realistic animal-handling scenarios that employees may encounter, including truck…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), currently under a district court timeline for completing the implementing regulations required under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), has filed an emergency stay pending appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the 16-day government shutdown in October makes compliance “not only unsound but impossible.” Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, No. 13-16841 (9th Cir., filed October 18, 2013). Details about the district court’s refusal to amend the deadlines appear in Issue 494 of this Update. FDA specifically requests relief from the November 30 deadline for the publication of a proposed rule “addressing novel requirements for preventing the intentional adulteration of food.” The agency claims that compliance would “threaten[] to waste scarce agency resources and risk results inconsistent with the public interest by requiring FDA to spend the next several weeks completing and publishing a proposal that does not take…
U.S. Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Lucille Roybal Allard (D-Calif.) have circulated a request to their colleagues that they join a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking that the agency take action on two citizen petitions, pending before the agency for some eight years, seeking a rule that sugary beverages “carry a rotating series of health messages on their labels in order to educate consumers on the health risks of sugar overconsumption.” The first petition was filed in 2005 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. See “Ask the FDA to Review Petitions on Sugary Beverages,” October 22, 2013.
According to media sources, the campaigns for and against a proposed 1-cent per ounce excise tax on all sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) sold in Telluride, Colorado, have stepped up their efforts in advance of November voting. Primarily funded by a Houston-based hedge fund, which donated $50,000 to the cause, “Kick the Can Telluride” has reportedly taken its lead from similar campaigns in El Monte, California, and Richmond, Virginia, and urged local voters to back ballot measure 2A, claiming that the estimated annual revenues of $200,000 would support youth health initiatives now funded by three-year U.S. Department of Education Physical Education Program grants. “If passed, the measure would be the first town-level excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States,” reports The (Telluride) Watch in an October 16, 2013, article about the debate. Meanwhile, the Colorado Beverage Association has apparently joined with local business owners in countering the proposal with its…
The European Commission-Joint Research Centre and Institute of Food Safety of the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands, at the request of the European Food Safety Authority, have issued a two-part survey regarding nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications that aims to collect information about (i) the current and potential future use of nanomaterials or nanotechnology in agri-food-feed applications, and (ii) regulation, safety assessment and reporting of nanomaterials in different countries. The first part of the survey focuses on the “Production, Use, Import, Research and Development of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and is addressed to (i) companies that produce, import or use the materials in such applications, and (ii) research institutes, research and development departments of industry, or others active in research and development of materials or products containing nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications. The second part of the survey focuses on the “Regulation and Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and…
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) recently joined a coalition of nongovernmental organizations in criticizing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ahead of the agency’s October 3, 2013, stakeholder meeting on transparency in risk assessment. Led by CEO and backed by groups such as Cancer Prevention and Education Society, Friends of the Earth Europe and GMWatch, the coalition argues in an October 1 open letter that EFSA’s current system for approving food products for market is flawed insofar as the agency’s decision-making process relies on confidential dossiers submitted by industry. In particular, the signatories claim that under international and EU law, EFSA must disclose the contents of these dossiers and should also ensure that the studies used to support its market approvals adhere to the same high standards as those set by peer-reviewed journals. To this end, the coalition recommends that EFSA provide “complete, unrestricted and proactive online publication of applicants’ files,”…
