The Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has issued guidance for employers and employees working with nanomaterials and nanoproducts. The guidance provides information about designing suitable control measures to limit exposures according to the current state of knowledge about nanomaterial safety. It also recommends ways of instructing employees about good work practices, potential risks and risk management measures when new nanomaterials are introduced into the workplace. See Nanowerk, May 24, 2011.
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
General practitioners (GPs) in the United Kingdom will reportedly receive payments each time they advise patients to lose weight and by maintaining lists of those who exceed weight guidelines. The GPs will apparently be able to offer free memberships in diet clubs, paid for by the National Health Service (NHS), as part of the new weight-control program. Critics are reportedly appalled that simply advising a patient to lose weight, without more, will increase GP incomes. They recommend that referrals to programs, such as Weight Watchers® and Slimming World®, would be more effective in addressing an obesity problem that is purportedly costing NHS more than £6 billion annually. See The Telegraph, May 22, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking public comment on a study examining labeling claims on whole-grain products. Titled “Experimental Study on Consumer Responses to Whole Grain Labeling Statements on Food Packages,” the study is part of the agency’s “continuing effort to enable consumers to make informed dietary choices and construct healthful diets,” according to FDA. The study will examine (i) “consumer judgments about a food product including its nutritional attributes, overall healthiness, and health benefits”; (ii) “consumer judgments about a label in terms of its credibility in conveying the product’s nutritional attributes and its helpfulness in making product purchasing decisions”; (iii) “consumer perceptions about differences between different statements, such as ‘Made with Whole Grain,’ ‘Contains Whole Grain,’ and ‘Whole Grain”; (iv) “consumer extrapolation of whole grain statements beyond the scope of the statements themselves (i.e. halo effects)”; and (v) “how whole grain statements influence consumer use of the…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a public meeting to discuss inspections and compliance provisions of the recently enacted Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Set for June 6, 2011, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the meeting will allow stakeholders to comment on FSMA’s implementation strategies regarding (i) “enforcement authorities”; (ii) “frequency and targeting of facility inspections”; (iii) “manner of inspection in a preventive controls environment”; and (iv) “improving the reportable food registry (RFR).” The meeting will also be available through live webcast, and FDA encourages early registration. Details of FSMA were covered in Issue 376 of this Update. See Federal Register, May 26, 2011.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a citizen petition “requesting that the administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) . . . issue an interpretive rule declaring certain delineated strains of antibiotic-resistant [ABR] Salmonella, when found in ground meat and ground poultry, to be adulterants” under federal law. In re: CSPI Petition, No. __ (USDA FSIS, filed May 25, 2011). Noting that FSIS declared E. coli an adulterant in 1994, the petition contends, “Scientific and medical research demonstrates that contamination of meat and poultry by ABR strains of Salmonella poses grave public health dangers that are comparable to those posed by E. coli 0157:H7 in 1994.” According to the petition, several ABR strains in ground meat and poultry products have resulted in recalls, outbreaks and deaths. Seeking expedited review, CSPI claims that 36 documented outbreaks, causing thousands of illnesses and some deaths, were…
A South Carolina-based family farming operation has filed a complaint seeking damages that it alleges were sustained in 2008 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a nationwide recall of round tomatoes due to a purported Salmonella outbreak. Seaside Farm, Inc. v. United States, No. 11-1199 (D.S.C., filed May 18, 2011). The plaintiff claims that independent audits before the recall was announced verified that its produce and practices were safe. Still, according to the complaint, “At the time of the recall, the FDA had not positively identified a single tomato as a current source of the salmonella outbreak in the United States” and “The FDA never identified any contaminated tomatoes and ultimately conceded that tomatoes were not the source of the salmonella contamination.” Claiming that the recall “decimated the market price for fresh tomatoes,” the plaintiff seeks unspecified general and special compensatory damages and interest under the Federal Tort Claims Act.…
A federal court in the District of Columbia has issued an order granting preliminary approval of a settlement agreement involving a class of African-American farmers who “submitted late-filing requests under Section 5(g) of the Pigford v. Glickman Consent Decree on or after October 13, 1999, and on or before June 18, 2008,” but had not yet obtained a determination on the merits of their discrimination complaints. In re: Black Farmers Discrimination Litig., No. 08-0511 (D.D.C., filed May 13, 2011). The order certifies the class and sets a “cost cap” of $35 million with payment of up to $3.5 million for class counsel fees and costs. Class members are enjoined from bringing any other claims arising out of section 14012 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. These lawsuits alleged that the U.S. Department of Agriculture systematically discriminated against African-American farmers on the basis of race. The court has scheduled…
The California Senate’s Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee has reportedly passed a bill (S. 380) that would permit the Medical Board of California to “set content standards for any educational activity concerning a chronic disease that includes appropriate information on the impact, prevention, and cure of the chronic disease by the application of changes in nutrition and lifestyle behavior.” The legislation would amend Section 2190 of the Business and Professions Code that deals with mandatory continuing medical education and authorize the board “to also set content standards for an educational activity concerning chronic disease, as specified.” See John McDougall Press Release, May 16, 2011. Backed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the bill was evidently authored by John McDougall, a physician known for emphasizing the role of diet in preventing chronic disease. McDougall currently appears in the film “Forks over Knives,”…
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Food and Nutrition Board has announced a June 7, 2011, meeting that will focus on the safety of imported foods “with the purposed of engaging science, technology, and policy personnel representing the global food supply chain, government agencies, and academia.” Titled “Food Forum Meeting on Supply Chain and Policy/Regulatory Approaches to Import Safety,” the meeting will include a morning panel featuring actors representing the supply chain “from producer to retailer/food service provider” and an afternoon panel of government officials representing “governance processes from the state to global level.” By focusing on the Food and Drug Administration’s new authority granted under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), including “importer accountability, third party certification, certification for high risk foods, voluntary qualified importer program, and authority to deny entry,” the meeting aims to “provide perspectives and ideas useful for the development and implementation of the multifaceted import tools available…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report criticizing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) oversight of imported seafood safety. Noting that about one-half of imported seafood comes from fish farms that may use antibiotics to prevent bacterial infections, the report claims that “residues of some drugs can cause cancer and antibiotic resistance.” Titled “FDA Needs to Improve Oversight of Imported Seafood and Better Leverage Limited Resources,” the report urges FDA to enhance its import sampling program. “FDA’s oversight program to ensure the safety of imported seafood from residues of unapproved drugs is limited, especially as compared with the European Union,” the report states, adding that FDA inspectors “generally do not visit the farms to evaluate drug use or the capabilities, competence, and quality control of laboratories that analyze the seafood.” The report also recommends that FDA (i) “study the feasibility of adopting practices used by other entities to…
