According to a news source, the Customs and Border Patrol will begin scanning shipping containers arriving in the United States from Japan for radiation, following the earthquake and tsunami that caused explosions at the country’s nuclear plants, releasing high levels of radiation into the atmosphere. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly indicated that it is “closely monitoring the situation in Japan and is working with the Japanese government and other U.S. agencies to continue to ensure that imported food remains safe.” The agency “will be examining both food products labeled as having originated in Japan or having passed through Japan in transit.” Affected shipments are not expected until the week of March 21, 2011, so FDA is reportedly not concerned about imports already in U.S. ports. It is also believed that the earthquake and tsunami shut down fishing, harvesting and food processing operations in the region. According to an…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The Cornucopia Institute, a consumer watchdog and proponent of “family-scale farming,” has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that an Oregon-based cereal maker is misleading consumers with its “all natural” product claims. According to the institute, Hearthside Food Solutions, which makes Peace Cereal, labels its products as “natural” and then states on its website that “natural foods are foods without pesticides or artificial additives, as well as being minimally processed and preservative-free.” Noting that the federal government has not adopted a definition of or requirements for “natural” food products, the Cornucopia Institute alleges that by using conventionally grown food ingredients, Hearthside is selling products routinely sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. Peace Cereal was apparently certified organic in the past, but has not been since 2008. Yet, according to the Cornucopia Institute, stores in several states continue to carry “organic” signs on shelves containing nonorganic Peace…
The National Consumers League (NCL) recently filed formal comments with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), opposing a petition to register “corn sugar” as an alternative name for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Claiming that the change “would be inconsistent with longstanding FDA common or usual name regulations,” NCL argues that “permitting HFCS to be called ‘corn sugar’ would allow manufacturers to conceal this ingredient from consumers.” “HFCS has been the name of the ingredient since FDA’s original GRAS affirmation regulation in 1983,” writes NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg in a letter warning that the science is still evolving. “If it should turn out that HFCS does contribute to higher caloric intake, and therefore obesity, or other adverse health outcomes, a regulatory decision that would allow manufacturers to hide this ingredient from consumers could come back to haunt FDA.” See FoodNavigator-USA.com, March 8, 2011; NCL Press Release, February 10, 2011.
The Cornucopia Institute, a consumer watchdog and proponent of “family-scale farming,” has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that an Oregon-based cereal maker is misleading consumers with its “all natural” product claims. According to the institute, Hearthside Food Solutions, which makes Peace Cereal, labels its products as “natural” and then states on its website that “natural foods are foods without pesticides or artificial additives, as well as being minimally processed and preservative-free.” Noting that the federal government has not adopted a definition of or requirements for “natural” food products, the Cornucopia Institute alleges that by using conventionally grown food ingredients, Hearthside is selling products routinely sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. Peace Cereal was apparently certified organic in the past, but has not been since 2008. Yet, according to the Cornucopia Institute, stores in several states continue to carry “organic” signs on shelves containing non-organic Peace…
Iowa Representative Annette Sweeney (R-Alden) has introduced a bill (H.F. 431) that would make it illegal to gain employment under false pretenses on farms or slaughterhouse processing facilities and then produce and distribute undercover videos. The Iowa Senate is reportedly expected to consider similar legislation. Defined in the bill as “animal facility interference,” shooting undercover videos at slaughterhouses would be considered anywhere from an aggravated misdemeanor up to a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and fined as much as $7,500. Similar penalties would apply to “animal facility fraud,” which would occur when a person is convicted of willfully obtaining “access to an animal facility by false pretenses for the purpose of committing an act not authorized by the owner of the animal facility” or “makes a false statement or representation as part of an application to be employed at the animal facility, if the…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued a notice of its intent to list ethanol in alcoholic beverages and Chinese-style salted fish to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer (Prop. 65). Inclusion on the list requires that products containing these ingredients include label warnings. OEHHA is apparently basing its action on the inclusion of these substances in an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) monograph. The agency is requesting comments by April 4, 2011. According to OEHHA, “[b]ecause these are ministerial listings, comments should be limited to the question whether IARC has identified the specific chemical or substance as a known or potential human or animal carcinogen. Under this listing mechanism, OEHHA cannot consider scientific arguments concerning the weight or quality of the evidence considered by IARC when identifying a specific chemical or substance and will not respond to such…
Mexico has reportedly approved its first pilot program to grow genetically modified (GM) corn. Noting that “it is necessary to advance the use of biotechnology to reduce imports and promote national production,” the Ministry of Agriculture approved the planting of GM yellow corn on approximately 2.5 acres in the northern state of Tamaulipas. Since 2009 when it began allowing GM corn on small experimental fields, the Mexican government has evidently received 121 requests for permits and allowed approximately 170 acres. According to the ministry, a pilot program is granted after an experimental field has been deemed safe by government inspectors. Although large commercial farms in northern Mexico have welcomed the GM corn to compete with U.S. imports, smaller farms in southern Mexico have expressed concern that the biotech crops could contaminate native red, blue and yellow corn varieties. See Reuters, March 8, 2011.
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) “has assessed the safety of a group of caramel colors authorized for use in food in the European Union,” concluding that all four classes “are neither genotoxic, nor carcinogenic and that there is no evidence to show that they have any adverse effects on human reproduction or for the developing child.” The ANS Panel evidently reevaluated the safety of Class I Plain Caramel or Caustic Caramel (E 150a), Class II Caustic Sulfite Caramel (E 150b), Class III Ammonia Caramel (E 150c) and Class IV Sulfite Ammonia Caramel (E 150d), setting a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 300 mg per kg body weight per day (mg/kg bw/day). It also set a more restrictive ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day for caramel E150c. As ANS Panel Chair John Christian Larsen explained, “This means that…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced an April 26-29, 2011, public meeting of its National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which will review recommendations pertaining to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Under the Organic Foods Production Act, the list governs the synthetic substances that may be used, and the nonsynthetic substances that cannot be used, in organic production and handling operations. NOSB will consider exemptions and prohibitions for a variety of substances scheduled for sunset review, including ethanol, tetracycline, nickel, sodium nitrate, and newspaper and other recycled papers. It will also discuss animal handling, transit and slaughter recommendations, as well as other NOSB policy and procedure changes. The agency will accept pre-registration for public comments before April 10, 2011. See Federal Register, March 4, 2011.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board’s Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention has announced a public information-gathering workshop on measurement strategies to combat the nation’s obesity problem. The draft agenda for the March 23-24, 2011, event in Irvine, California, indicates that a panel discussion moderated by Northwestern University Professor Ellen Wartella will focus on “Marketing and Industry Measures and Evaluations.” A live video recording of the workshop, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, will be available on IOM’s Website and a taped version will reportedly be posted later. More information about the event is available here.
