Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) has signed legislation (S.B. 2687) prohibiting food regulation at the local level. Dubbed the “anti Bloomberg” bill by some lawmakers and media outlets, the new law reserves for the state legislature the power to regulate consumer incentive items, implement menu and vending machine labeling rules, and set other restrictions on the sale of certain foods and beverages where not preempted by federal law. Additional details about the measure appear in Issues 472 and 475 of this Update.
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
A sugar-sweetened beverage tax proposal (S.B. 622) introduced in February 2013 by Sen. Bill Monning (D) and co-sponsored by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, is scheduled for public hearing on April 24, 2013. The proposed legislation would impose a 1 cent per fluid ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to finance a Children’s Health Promotion Fund that would pay for a statewide childhood obesity prevention program and apply to all sugar-sweetened beverage distributors whether their products are bottled or sold as concentrate. “This bill will combat the obesity crisis and ensure that our children—and future generations of Californians—are not doomed to a shorter life expectancy and can instead live longer, healthier lives,” Monning has been quoted as saying. Details about S.B. 622 appear in Issue 473 of this Update. See Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2013.
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has declined to uphold five complaints claiming that Nestlé UK Ltd.’s TV advertisements for Nesquik chocolate milkshake “encouraged poor nutritional habits by suggesting the product was suitable to give to children for breakfast on a daily basis.” According to ASA, the complaints described the product as high in sugar and thereby unsuitable for daily consumption. But Nestlé countered that a typical serving of Nesquik milkshake could not “be described as being ‘high’ in sugar” as “46% of total sugar in the product, as consumed, was attributed to the naturally occurring lactose found in milk, and not to the Nesquik product.” In addition, Nestlé explained, the sugar that could be attributed to the product still met World Health Organization guidance stating that NonMilk Extrinsic Sugars should contribute less than 10 percent daily energy to children’s diets. “Nestlé also said the new EU Pledge nutrient profiling criteria…
The European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) has issued a priority list of food additives “for which scientific data are required to finalize their re-evaluation within deadlines established by European legislation.” Tasked with re-evaluating hundreds of food additives by 2020, EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS Panel) has asked member states and other stakeholders to provide the following information for 51 food additives: (i) “figures from industry on the amounts of these additives they report using in their products”; and (ii) “data derived from analyses indicating actual levels of these additives found in foods and drinks from national food authorities, research institutions, academia, food industry, and other stakeholders.” To meet the evaluation deadlines, the ANS Panel has divided food additives into groups “based on the availability of scientific data.” The panel will accept data related to the 15 additives in the first group—which includes β-apo-8’-…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a forthcoming public consultation to discuss its draft opinion on the potential health risks of bisphenol A (BPA). Slated for final adoption in November 2013, the draft opinion will take into account “ongoing scientific work on BPA at European and national levels” as well as the work of EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel), which in February 2012 agreed to undertake “a full re-evaluation of the human risks associated with exposure to BPA” from both dietary and non-dietary sources. According to a March 26, 2013, press release, EFSA last completed a full risk assessment for the substance in 2006, concluding at the time that dietary BPA exposures for adults, infants and children “were all well below” the Tolerable Daily Intake set at 0.05 mg/kg body weight/day. Since the 2006 opinion, however, scientific experts and national…
U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) recently sent letters to the CEOs of Monster Beverage Corp., Rockstar, Inc., and Red Bull North America, accusing the companies of marketing energy drinks to children. Citing “growing concern about the potential health risks posed by energy drinks,” the legislators claim that despite pledges to abstain from targeting children with direct advertisements, energy drink manufacturers have sponsored athletic competitions and professional athletes that appeal to youth. In particular, the letters single out Monster Beverage Corp. for purportedly advertising on a Little League scoreboard; distributing free product samples at skate park events geared toward children; and sponsoring “Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game” awards for student athletes. Blumenthal and Durbin also highlight Rockstar’s sponsorship of “a 15-year-old professional skateboarder and role model to young fans” as well as Red Bull’s involvement with a high school football tournament and the Red Bull…
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has introduced legislation (H.R. 1249) that would amend the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act “to improve and clarify certain disclosure requirements for restaurants, similar food retail establishments, and vending machines.” Titled the “Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2013,” the bill would classify a restaurant or similar retail food establishment subject to federal menu labeling laws as one “that derives more than 50 percent of its total revenue from the sale of food of the type described” by the FD&C Act. Touted as a means to lessen the regulatory burden on some retailers, the legislation would, among other things, (i) strike from the FD&C Act language requiring restaurants, retail food establishments and vending machines to list “the number of calories contained in the standard menu item, as usually prepared and offered for sale” and instead insert language specifying that these establishments must…
Among other measures added to the six-month Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013 signed into law by President Barack Obama (D) on March 26, 2013, are a number of provisions—or “riders”—that apparently either override previously adopted laws or require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ignore judicial rulings on challenges to the deregulation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. The riders reportedly include (i) cuts to a school breakfast program to avoid disruptions to food safety inspections which would have affected meat processing operations; (ii) an order that the USDA secretary rescind regulations adopted in 2012 protecting growers under contract with large chicken processors; (iii) the removal of funds from USDA’s budget to implement 2008 farm bill reforms protecting small ranchers and farmers that raise animals for slaughter; and (iv) a requirement that the USDA secretary “immediately grant” temporary permits to farmers, growers or producers on request to…
According to news sources, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) removed some provisions from the regulatory implementation package that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Analysis of documents submitted to the rulemaking docket apparently reveals that the following requirements were removed from the draft rules submitted for OMB review: (i) company programs to monitor the environment for pathogens, (ii) finished product testing for pathogens, (iii) the assumption that pathogens found on food contact materials are also in the food, (iv) a supplier approval and verification program, (v) company review of consumer safety complaints, and (vi) FDA authority to copy company records. See Food Politics and Law360, March 25, 2013. Meanwhile, the Center for Food Safety has reportedly called on a federal court in California to impose deadlines on FDA to implement food safety regulations, arguing that the FSMA set…
POM Wonderful LLC has filed a petition seeking review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order requiring two randomized, controlled clinical trials before the company can make a claim that its pomegranate juice products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction. POM Wonderful LLC v. FTC, No. 13-1060 (D.C. Cir., filed March 8, 2013). In its January ruling, FTC found that the company made false and misleading claims by advertising its products with health-benefit assertions that POM contended were backed by medical research. Additional information about the FTC rulings in the case appears in issues 441 and 467 of this Update.
