Joining the nearly dozen states that have enacted laws to restrict bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging—particularly with respect to children’s food and beverage containers—New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it illegal to sell or distribute food and beverage containers intended for use by young children that contain the chemical. The bill cites BPA studies alleging “cause for concern about the hazards of exposure to it, such as possible neural and behavioral effects caused by BPA in utero, and further concern that the chemical could cause problems in developing fetuses and young children.” Introduced by Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) and known as the “Child Food and Beverage Packaging Act,” the legislation would make it “an unlawful consumer fraud practice for a person to sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale in the state a food or beverage storage container made with or composed of BPA and…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint lodged by the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) against Weetabix Ltd.’s product-branded app, concluding that the “WeetaKid” game, which prompted players to scan QR codes during game-play, “was persuasive and negative, and could lead children to understand that if they did not eat Weetabix they were failing in some way.” Focusing on several online games created by Weetabix, FPI apparently challenged whether (i) the WeetaKid app “exploited the credulity, loyalty, vulnerability or lack of experience of children by making them feel inferior or unpopular for not buying a product”; (ii) the WeetaKid app “included a direct exhortation to children to buy an advertised product”; (iii) advergames “on the Weetos and Nickelodeon websites were obviously identifiable as marketing communications”; and (iv) some of the advergames “advertised Weetos Bars, which would be classified as a product high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS),…
Citing public concerns about the presence of horsemeat in beef products, European Union (EU) Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner Tonio Borg recently called an emergency meeting of agricultural ministers and urged member states to conduct random DNA testing on processed beef products for three months beginning March 1, 2013. The measure builds on an ongoing investigation initiated by the U.K. Food Safety Agency (FSA) and Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which first reported finding equine and porcine DNA in beef products in January 2013 and have since ramped up testing protocols after other member states, including France and Germany, allegedly received contaminated products from suppliers across the European Union. See European Food Safety Authority, February 11, 2013. According to various media reports, retailers in 16 countries have sold mislabeled horsemeat to millions of consumers, a development that has prompted officials to demand criminal sanctions against those deemed responsible for what…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced two additional public meetings to discuss proposed rules to establish standards for the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce for human consumption (the produce safety proposed rule), and for current good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for human food (the preventive controls proposed rule). The meetings are scheduled for March 11-12 in Chicago and March 27-28 in Portland, Oregon. FDA anticipates that the proposed produce safety rule would “reduce foodborne illnesses associated with the consumption of produce.” The proposed preventative controls rule would evidently apply to human food and require domestic and foreign facilities that must register under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to have written plans that identify hazards, specify the steps that will be put in place to minimize or prevent those hazards, monitor results and act to correct problems that arise. See…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended until April 26, 2013, the comment period for two draft environmental assessments of the proposed conditions of use submitted by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., in support of a new animal drug application concerning a genetically engineered (GE) Atlantic salmon and a preliminary finding of no significant impact for those specific conditions of use. FDA has pushed back the deadline in response to “a request for an extension to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments.” Additional details about the proposed rule appear in Issue 466 of this Update. See Federal Register, February 14, 2013.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently entered a consent decree with Puerto Rico-based Jonlly Fruits, Inc. requiring the company to hire independent experts in labeling, sanitation and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) before it can begin again to make and sell its fruit and juice products. United States v. Jonlly Fruits, Inc., No. 13-1043 (D.P.R., approved January 17, 2013). The labeling expert is required to “review Defendants’ labeling and ensure that all such labels are in compliance with the applicable FDA regulations.” The other experts are required to develop written protocols and employee training programs and to conduct comprehensive facility inspections. In the meantime, the company has agreed to destroy “all in-process and finished articles of food” currently in its custody, control or possession. According to FDA, the company and its president, Bartolo Pérez Romàn, “have a long history” of failing to comply with current good manufacturing practice…
Evidently in response to public comments, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has modified its agreement with Phusion Projects, LLC to require an alcohol facts panel on certain-sized cans of its Four Loko fruit-flavored malt beverage. In re Phusion Projects, LLC, No. C-4382 (FTC, order entered February 6, 2013). The agreement resolves charges that the company and its principals falsely claimed that a 23.5-ounce can contained “the alcohol equivalent of one or two regular 12-ounce beers, and that a consumer could drink one entire can safely on a single occasion.” To the contrary, according to FTC’s administrative complaint, the products contain the alcohol equivalent of four to five 12-ounce cans of beer. Without admitting liability, the company has agreed to label any container of Four Loko or other flavored malt beverage with more than two servings of alcohol with an alcohol facts panel. The panel will set forth the “the container…
According to a news source, the Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has determined that Anheuser Busch promotions for Michelob ULTRA Light Cider® comply with Food and Drug Administration definitions and guidelines. The company apparently claims that the product has one-third fewer calories than its competitors, and the ad industry’s self-regulatory investigative unit “determined that the advertiser had provided a reasonable basis for the claim.” NAD considered the product’s calorie content, the calorie content of other leading hard ciders and their market share, as well as whether the brewer’s claim provided “meaningful and accurate information to consumers.” The company was reportedly “pleased with NAD’s decision.” See Law360, February 5, 2013.
Russia has reportedly imposed a ban on U.S. turkey imports, effective February 11, 2013, thus extending a ban on pork and beef imports in an ongoing dispute over the use of growth stimulant ractopamine in animal feed. According to a news source, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (VPSS) made the decision after repeated warnings from Russian authorities about continual breaches of Russian rules banning the presence of the chemical—believed to cause health problems in humans—in food. The Codex Alimentarius Commission has apparently determined that the chemical is not harmful to humans when present in meat at low levels, but that has not stopped some countries, such as Russia and China, from banning it. “Since the violations continue and we are finding ractopamine in meat shipments from the USA, we plan starting February 11 to impose restrictions on the import of this product,” VPSS Chief Sergei Dankvert said. The…
In the wake of a recent investigation conducted by the Food Standards Authority of Ireland that identified horse and pig DNA in beef products, the U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have published their own protocol for testing “food authenticity in processed meat products.” According to a February 6, 2013, FSA press release, the protocol calls for “specialized analytical techniques to provide information about the possible presence of horse or pig DNA in a range of beef products available to U.K. consumers.” As part of the extended survey, 28 local authorities (LAs) will analyze 224 samples from meat products selected as representative of those on the market. The protocol requires LAs to report screening samples by March 11, 2013, with any confirmatory tests reported by April 8. FSA also intends to identify brand names and describe any formal actions taken when it releases…
