The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a staff advisory opinion informing the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB) that staff does not have any “present intention” to recommend that FTC bring an enforcement action against a CBBB plan to hold companies “engaged in online behavioral advertising” (OBA) accountable for compliance with self-regulatory principles issued in July 2009 and administered by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). CBBB sought FTC staff’s assurance that the accountability program, if implemented, would not be subject to restraint of trade prosecution. According to the August 15, 2011, letter, “the proposed accountability program is intended to increase transparency and consumer control of OBA, which has the potential to increase consumer welfare, and there appears to be little or no potential for competitive harm associated with the proposed accountability program.” The principles require companies that engage in OBA to notify consumers they are doing so and…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule that would establish regulations to improve the traceability of livestock moving interstate when disease has been identified. According to APHIS, the proposal aims to provide a new “adoptable approach that will help us find animals associated with a disease quickly, focus our efforts on those animals, and minimize harm to producers.” Defining animal disease traceability as “knowing where diseased and at-risk animals are, where they’ve been, and when,” the plan would require livestock moving interstate, unless exempted, to be (i) officially identified by approved forms for each species, such as metal eartags for cattle, and (ii) accompanied by an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection or other documentation, such as owner-shipper statements or brand certificates. Alternative forms of identification, such as brands or tattoos, would be permitted if agreed to by receiving states or…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg urging the agency to act on an April 2005 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) related to serving-size regulations. According to the letter, CSPI first responded to the ANPR by asking FDA to (i) “take enforcement action against manufacturers that mislabel products as multiple servings when they are typically consumed in one eating occasion,” and (ii) “initiate a rulemaking proceeding to revise the Reference Amounts Currently Consumed (‘RACC’) regulations to reflect consumption patterns that have developed since the data were collected” in the 1970s. In particular, the consumer watchdog has singled out canned soup, ice cream, coffee creamer, and aerosol non-stick cooking sprays as bearing “unrealistic” serving-size labels that “understate the calories, sodium and saturated fat consumers are likely to get from those products.” “Given the prevalence of…
A coalition of 38 industry organizations has sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate leaders urging Congress to allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to complete its review of an application for genetically engineered (GE) salmon. The coalition’s letter comes on the heels of a recent House-approved appropriations amendment that prohibits FDA from using money in fiscal year 2012 to finalize its review of AquaBounty Technologies’ application to produce fast-growing GE Atlantic salmon and the efforts of a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers to halt the application’s approval process. According to the “Animal Agriculture Coalition,” if it the amendment becomes law, FDA’s ability to process such applications using best-available science would be diminished, damaging the agency’s credibility “at home and overseas.” Coalition members include the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), whose president and CEO was quoted as saying that “disrupting FDA’s science-based assessment process based on non-scientific political concerns would…
California Governor Jerry Brown (D) has signed a bill (S.B. 39) prohibiting the importation, production and sale of caffeinated beer beverages in retail establishments throughout the state. Effective January 1, 2012, the legislation provides, in part, “Beer to which caffeine has been directly added as a separate ingredient shall not be imported into this state, produced, manufactured, or distributed within this state, or sold by a licensed retailer within this state.” The prohibition does not apply to beer brewed with coffee or other naturally caffeinated ingredients. Calling caffeinated beer beverages “a threat to public health,” bill sponsor Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) said the measure was adopted in response to several incidents involving underage drinkers hospitalized for alcohol overdoses after consuming caffeinated beer, which is typically packaged in large containers and has sweet, fruity flavors. “The added caffeine masks the effects of the high alcohol content, which can lead to binge…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued a final rule renewing exemptions for 12 substances on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which governs the use of synthetic and nonsynthetic ingredients in organic production and handling. After reviewing public input, the National Organic Standards Board recommended renewals for the following substances set to expire in September 2011: (i) ferric phosphate and hydrogen chloride (synthetic substances used in organic farming); (ii) egg white lysozyme, L-Malic acid and microorganisms (nonsynthetic, nonorganic substances used as ingredients and in processed organic products); and (iii) activated charcoal, cyclohexylamine, diethylaminoethanol, octadecylamine, peracetic acid/peroxyacetic acid, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (synthetic, nonorganic substances used as ingredients and in processed organic produces). The final rule becomes effective September 12, 2011.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert “due to concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella Heidelberg that may be associated with the use and consumption of ground turkey.” According to FSIS, an epidemiological investigation led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments has linked an estimated 77 illnesses in 26 states to a Springdale, Arkansas, plant operated by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., which voluntarily recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced between February 20 and August 2. “The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics; this antibiotic resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals,” stated an August 4, 2011, CDC investigation update. “Consumers should check their homes for recalled ground turkey products and not eat them; restaurant and food service operators…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a notice and request for comments about fiscal year 2012 fees under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The fee rates, intended to “capture 100 percent of the costs of each activity,” will be assessed for facility reinspections, recalls and importer reinspections. If no foreign travel is required, the rate will be $224 per hour, and if foreign travel is required, the fee increases to $335 per hour. While a separate schedule has not been established for small businesses, FDA indicates that it will waive the fees “in limited cases . . . based on a severe economic hardship, the nature and extent of the underlying violation, and other relevant factors.” FDA has also established a docket “to obtain information that will be used to formulate a proposed set of guidelines in consideration of the burden of fee amounts on small business, as…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reopened the comment period for its proposed “gluten-free” food labeling rule. Originally published in January 2007, the proposed rule would have defined the term “for voluntary use in the labeling of foods, to mean that the food does not contain an ingredient that is any species of wheat, rye, barley, or a crossbred hybrid of these grains (collectively referred to as ‘prohibited grains’); an ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has not been processed to remove gluten (e.g., wheat starch), if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million (ppm) or more gluten in the food; or 20 ppm or more gluten.” FDA seeks comments on a report titled “Health Hazard Assessment for Effects of Gluten Exposure in Individuals with Celiac Disease: Determination of Tolerable Daily Intake Levels and Levels of Concern for…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the company that makes Lazy Larry® brownies containing melatonin that they are adulterated under federal law. According to FDA, “Your ‘Lazy Larry’ product is represented for use as a conventional food, and accordingly is not a dietary supplement.” The company apparently uses the term “dietary supplement” in the product’s “statement of identity” and a “Supplement Facts” panel for its nutrition labeling. FDA contends that these statements do “not make your product a dietary supplement,” because it is marketed alongside snack foods, its website refers to the product as a conventional food, and the appearance and packaging make the product look like a brownie. Noting that the agency “is not aware of data to establish the safety of melatonin for use as an ingredient in conventional foods” and that “reports in the scientific literature have raised safety concerns about the use of melatonin,” FDA…
