Consumers and regulators have long expressed concerns about the safety of plastic and other materials in packaging for food, and in 2019, concern turned towards perfluorinated compounds (PFAS). Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced legislation in May that would ban PFAS in food containers and cookware, and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) presentation was revealed that reportedly disclosed that agency researchers found high levels of PFAS in meat, fish, leafy greens and chocolate cake. In its response to headlines about the presentation, FDA stated, "Overall, our findings did not detect PFAS in the vast majority of the foods tested. … In addition, based on the best available current science, the FDA does not have any indication that these substances are a human health concern, in other words a food safety risk in human food, at the levels found in this limited sampling. These data give our scientists a benchmark…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The dispute over the meaning of meat- and dairy-related terms continued in 2019, with more states passing bans on the use of terms implying animal-derived products, such as "burger" or "milk," to describe plant-based products. Nebraska, Arizona and Washington considered bans, and Arkansas' ban was targeted with a challenge from Tofurky that has resulted in a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing the statute against the company. Similarly, Mississippi proposed amendments to its meat-defining law after a "vegan bacon" and "vegan chorizo" company argued that the law "harms society." A Missouri court, meanwhile, denied the Good Food Institute's and American Civil Liberties Union's motion for a preliminary injunction to enforce the state's meat-labeling statute. In addition, a bipartisan bill introduced in November, the Real MEAT Act, would define meat-related terms if the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "fail[] to take appropriate action." The issue…
Allergen labeling grabbed headlines in the United Kingdom in 2019 as the country faced pressure from consumers concerned that prepackaged foods lacked mandated ingredient disclosures. Following the 2016 death of a teenager who consumed a premade sandwich packaged without notification of potential exposure to sesame, the U.K. Food Standards Agency launched a public consultation that resulted in the announcement of "Natasha's Law." Under the law, which will take effect in October 2021, restaurants and other food-service entities will be required to provide a full listing of ingredients on prepackaged food. In the United States, sesame is not an allergen that requires labeling, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested comments on the allergy's prevalence and severity in 2018. The New York Times called current U.S. regulations incomplete in January, and an August NPR article compared the two systems and found awareness of allergies in the United States lacking.…
The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Stephen Hahn as the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hahn, an expert in radiation oncology, reportedly promised to prioritize science, data and public health over political interests when directing the agency's policy.
The National Advertising Division (NAD) has found that Insurgent Brands LLC's RXBAR labels, which feature a brief list of ingredients on the front, communicate a substantiated claim about the main ingredients in the product and do not "convey misleading implied claims about weight and proportions of the protein bar inside." Kind Inc. challenged the labels, arguing that the labels—which primarily feature ingredients on a short, numbered list—do not imply that the list is in descending order by weight, as compared to the legally mandated ingredients list featured on the back of the packaging. NAD was unpersuaded by consumer perception surveys provided by Kind, finding "significant flaws" in the studies. The board noted that the listed "3 Egg Whites" on the front label are present in the product in the form of dehydrated egg white powder, as "appropriate for a packaged, shelf-stable bar." The board also found that "the dried egg…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has reportedly vetoed a bill that would have banned the use of chlorpyrifos by the end of 2021 but directed the state's Department of Environmental Conservation to issue a ban on the pesticide. His direction will result in an immediate ban on aerial uses of chlorpyrifos and phase out other uses by December 2020. An exception for spraying apple tree trunks will be permitted until July 2021. "This bill bypasses the rigorous process available to challenge an approved product and substitute the legislature's judgment for the expertise of chemists, health experts and other subject matter experts in this field," Cuomo stated in his veto message. "While I do not agree that a pesticide should be banned by legislative decree, I agree that New York must lead the way by taking action to ensure the public that all regulatory options are taken to limit exposure to…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a consumer update on cannabidiol (CBD) products and other products containing ingredients derived from cannabis. The update clarified that FDA "is concerned that people may mistakenly believe that trying CBD 'can't hurt'" because the agency has "seen only limited data about CBD's safety and these data point to real risks that need to be considered." FDA warned that CBD may have potential to injure the liver, cause negative drug interactions and affect male reproductive health, safety risks the agency identified during its review for the drug form of CBD. FDA's update coincided with the release of several warning letters to CBD companies from the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The letters warned companies that the language used to describe the benefits of CBD amounted to adulterated foods and misbranded drugs. Following the November 25, 2019, update, consumers filed several…
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Roy Tuccillo, Sr., his son Roy Tuccillo, Jr., and their food processing and distribution companies, Anchor Frozen Foods Inc. and Advanced Frozen Foods Inc., have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The companies reportedly imported 113,000 pounds of squid and sold it as octopus to more than ten grocery stores. The father and son could face up to five years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000, while their companies may be required to pay a fine of up to $500,000 and face five years of probation.
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed a petition urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide transparency on the levels of drug residue in meat, poultry and egg products found as part of the agency's National Residue Program (NRP). The advocacy group specifically requests that all approved animal drugs be incorporated in the NRP; that the NRP use "the best available methods that provide for the lowest limits of detection and quantitation"; that USDA establish "clear definitions and parameters for minimum levels of applicability"; and that the agency "improve the NRP reporting mechanisms to provide publicly-available information on all samples with positive residues regardless of whether the levels detected exceed minimum levels of applicability or [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] tolerances."
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a recommendation that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establish a process that ensures the agency tests at least one shipment of imported seafood before removing it from alert status. GAO reviewed 274 removal decisions between 2011 and 2018 and found that FDA did not conduct audits for 260, or 95%, of the decisions. "FDA officials said they conducted limited sampling because many import alert removal decisions can be supported by documentary evidence provided by firms," GAO announced. "Additionally, for certain violations that indicate a firm failed to meet regulatory or administrative requirements and may pose a public health hazard, an FDA directive establishes a goal for FDA staff to conduct a follow-up inspection within 6 months. However, GAO's review of removal decisions found that for 31 of the 32 firms that received such a finding, FDA did not conduct a follow-up…
