European Union (EU) member states have reportedly endorsed a draft regulation aiming to “harmonize the implementation of the zero tolerance policy on non-authorized genetically modified (GM) material in feed.” According to a February 23, 2011, Europa press release, the proposal put forth by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) would allow imported feed to contain up to 0.1 percent unauthorized GM seed, a limit that reflects the lowest level of GM presence considered by the EU GMO Reference Laboratory when validating detection methods. If adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in the next three months, the draft regulation would apply only to GM feed material “authorized for commercialization in a third country and for which an authorization procedure is pending in the EU or of which the EU authorization has expired.” Under these rules, “feed will be considered non-compliant with EU legislation when…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that agency analysts turned to next-generation sequencing to test samples collected during a Salmonella outbreak that purportedly sickened nearly 300 people from 44 states and the District of Columbia. The 2009 2010 outbreak was linked to the spice rub used on certain salamis and was ultimately traced to a single food facility. According to FDA, “The findings supported the information gathered in the field phase of the investigation and suggest an important role for this novel tool in augmenting future outbreak investigations.” See FDA Press Release, February 24, 2011.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have announced a March 16, 2011, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 31st session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants on Fish and Fishery Products (CCFFP) on April 11-16 in Tromso, Norway. CCFFP “is responsible for elaborating worldwide standards for fresh, frozen (including quick frozen) or otherwise processed fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.” Agenda items include proposed draft standards for fish sauce, smoked fish, smoke-flavored fish, and smoke dried fish; proposed draft codes of practice for fish and fishery products and scallop-meat processing; proposed methods for determining biotoxins in raw and live bivalve mollusks; and proposed revisions to food-additive standards for fish and fishery products. See Federal…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press release, FSIS has offered two definitions for “catfish,” one limited to all species in the family Ictaluridae and a broader one that covers all species in the order Siluriformes, which includes Ictaluridae, Pangasiidae and Clariidae, the three families “typically found in human food channels.” The proposed rule would also require, among other provisions, that all catfish “produced in or imported to the United States” bear an FSIS inspection mark or “a mark of inspection from the country from which it was exported.” In addition, the agency has suggested plans for (i) inspecting catfish farms, (ii)…
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has requested that Attorney General Eric Holder provide an update on the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the 2009 Salmonella outbreak involving contaminated peanuts from Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) facilities. As Leahy reminds Holder in his February 22, 2011, letter, the outbreak was linked to the deaths of nine people and purportedly sickened more than 700 others. He also cites his previous request that the department conduct “a full criminal investigation into this matter.” PCA declared bankruptcy in 2009, and neither its former CEO nor other executives have been charged to date. According to Leahy, “Given the PCA investigation, the pistachio recall, and last summer’s salmonella outbreak from eggs, my concerns remain that wrongdoers are disregarding the health and safety of American consumers by choosing to sell contaminated products. I hope that there has been a thorough criminal investigation into PCA’s conduct at the least,…
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an organization devoted to preventive medicine, a vegan diet and animal rights, has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming the agencies used deliberately obscure language in their 2010 Dietary Guidelines regarding the foods consumers should avoid. While the guidelines specifically call for increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, PCRM contends that the agencies “hide the food Americans should eat less of. The Guidelines use biochemical terms, such as ‘saturated fat’ and ‘cholesterol’ instead of specific food terms ‘meat’ and ‘cheese.’” According to PCRM, the guidelines are written this way due to “the USDA’s close ties to the meat and dairy industries, including fast-food companies such as McDonald’s.” The organization also apparently blames USDA’s dual mission of giving nutritional advice to Americans and promoting American agricultural products for the use of language…
California State Assemblymen Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and Jared Huffman (D- San Rafael) have introduced a bill (A.B. 376) that would prohibit the possession, sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins. Apparently in demand for shark fin soup, “the ingredient is very high in mercury and the FDA warns that it could be dangerous to consumers’ health,” according to a joint press release issued by the lawmakers. Calling shark finning “a senseless act” in which fins and tails are cut from living sharks with the remainder of the fish thrown back in the ocean, Huffman noted that the practice “can seriously destabilized the food chain” because of sharks’ predatory status “in ocean ecosystems around the world.” Although shark finning is illegal under federal and California statutes, Fong called those laws “insufficient when we have species of sharks depleted up to 90 percent. The demand for shark fin is growing and the…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies has rejected an article 13.5 application submitted by Piimandusühistu E-Piim, the manufacturer of a probiotic cheese, claiming that its product “helps to maintain the cardio-vascular system/heart health through reduction of blood pressure.” The applicant evidently submitted 38 publications and four proprietary reports related to the maintenance of normal blood pressure and the Lactobacillus plantarum TENSIA™ bacteria found in its “semi-hard Edam-type” Harmony™ “heart cheese.” EFSA ruled, however, that “none of these publications addressed the effects of L. plantarum,” while three of the four unpublished proprietary reports were uncontrolled and therefore inadmissible. The fourth study, according to EFSA, “was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over human intervention,” but ultimately failed “to show an effect of L. plantarum TENSIA™ on blood pressure.” The panel therefore concluded that “a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of Lactobacillus plantarum…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a preliminary program for a consultative workshop on draft guidance on the selection of comparators, or controls, for the risk assessment of genetically modified organism (GMO) plants. Scientists and risk assessors from European Union (EU) member states, industry and non-governmental organizations are expected to attend the March 31, 2011, workshop in Brussels. According to EFSA’s website, agenda items include (i) “Principles of risk assessment in the EU legal framework”; (ii) “GMO risk assessment: pros and cons of different approaches”; (iii) “Specific food and feed/molecular characterization and environmental needs for selection comparator”; and (iv) “Risk assessment when no comparator is available.” Meanwhile, EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain has reportedly “returned no definitive opinion” on whether to approve or veto the use of three GMOs for maize and cotton. According to a news source, the inconclusive vote could thwart other forms of…
Canada Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq has announced revisions to food allergen labeling regulations with the aim of reducing the number of food recalls and adverse reactions. The revisions strengthen the requirements by adding gluten sources to the list of allergens that must be disclosed on product labels and specifying in plain terms what food makers must say about their ingredients, including “hidden” allergens, gluten sources and sulphites. According to Health Canada, the changes will take effect August 4, 2012, to allow the industry time to implement them. The agency claims that the revisions will “provide a clearer ingredient label so that consumers can better avoid foods that contain the ingredient to which they are allergic or sensitive,” and will ensure that allergens, gluten sources and sulphites “will be labelled in a systematic and consistent manner.” See Health Canada Press Release, February 14, 2011.
