Toronto’s city council has approved a ban on the sale and distribution of bottled water at city facilities, making it the largest city in the world to impose such a ban. The council also approved a measure requiring shoppers to pay five Canadian cents for plastic bags and business owners to offer reusable bags and carry-out containers. Environmental concerns have apparently spurred the initiatives, which come on the heels of a complaint filed by environmental interests in Canada against Nestlé accusing it of misleading the public by claiming that its bottled water is “the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world.” A company spokesperson reportedly stood by the claim, saying that most water bottles are recycled and that bottled water takes less water to produce than soft drinks, sliced bread or a can of vegetables. See Globe and Mail, December 1, 2008; Wikinews Shorts, December 4, 2008.
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
China has reportedly estimated that nearly 300,000 infants were sickened and six died after ingesting melamine-tainted formula linked to kidney stones and renal failure. The government has increased the number of illnesses six-fold from its first calculations and doubled the death toll as the Health Ministry investigated fatalities purportedly involving infant formula. “The new figures are more realistic and objective than previous figures,” said one Beijing lawyer who represents several families seeking compensation and is considering the creation of a public fund for victims. “I assume the government is worried about the situation of the dairies and is afraid the companies may fall if they have to pay compensation amid the current financial crisis. The government may be worrying about the interests of the companies first.” See Associated Press, December 2, 2008. In a related development, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently updated its safety assessment for melamine and…
GAO has launched a new “Urgent Issues” Web page that outlines food safety priorities and possible government actions to secure the national food supply. According to GAO, “the fragmented nature of the federal food oversight system undermines the government’s ability to (i) plan more strategically to inspect food product process, (ii) identify and react more quickly to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, and (iii) focus on promoting the safety and integrity of the nation’s food supply.” The government watchdog also urges the executive branch to “reconvene the President’s Council on Food Safety” and “develop a government-wide performance plan that is results-oriented and provides a cross-agency perspective to help ensure agencies’ goals are complementary.” In addition, GAO calls on Congress to “commission the National Academy of Sciences or a blue ribbon panel to conduct a detailed analysis of alternative organizational food safety structures” and “enact comprehensive, uniform, and risk-based food safety legislation.”
Farmers have reportedly reacted unfavorably to an EPA proposal that would regulate greenhouse gases from “stationary sources,” including cows and other livestock, as well as cars. The “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” suggested that farms exceeding a 100-tons-per-year emission limit–those with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs–would need to obtain an annual air pollution permit, which respondents estimated would cost upwards of $175 per cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 per hog. The U.S. Department of Agriculture joined with several state farm bureaus in pointing out that “[It] is neither efficient nor practical to require permitting and reporting of [greenhouse] emissions from farms of this size . . . These operations simply could not bear the regulatory compliance costs that would be involved.” Although some officials have described the overwhelming response as “almost a panic,” media sources have noted that strong opposition…
FDA this week released a progress report on the Food Protection Plan launched in November 2007 to address “both food safety and food defense for domestic and imported products.” The report states that federal regulators are "working collaboratively across the agency to implement the three-core elements of protection: prevention, intervention and response.” It particularly notes that FDA has (i) established offices in China and India, with the intention of expanding its presence in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East; (ii) developed melamine and cyanuric acid testing for animal feed; (iii) developed rapid detection methods for E. coli and Salmonella; (iv) enhanced its ability to track foodborne illness outbreaks; (v) signed cooperative agreements with six states to form rapid response teams to handle emergencies; and (vi) approved the use of irradiation for iceberg lettuce and spinach. FDA also inspected 5,930 high-risk domestic food establishments in fiscal year 2008 and plans…
USDA is asking the pork industry to decide whether to hold a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program, a mandatory promotion fund overseen by the National Pork Board and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. The agency’s request for referendum gives pork producers and importers between December 8 and January 2, 2009, to vote in favor of a referendum on the program. “If 15 percent of the total number of eligible producers and importers want a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program, the referendum will be conducted within one year after the results for the Request for Referendum are announced,” stated USDA, which issued the request in accordance with the settlement agreement stemming from a 2001 lawsuit initiated by the Michigan Pork Producers Association. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food Policy Blog has urged the pork industry to back the referendum, in part because the checkoff program is “an ineffective way of increasing…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has scheduled a public workshop on December 3, 2008, to discuss how food retailers can provide warnings about foods containing chemicals that are listed under Proposition 65 as chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive hazards. The agency formed a workgroup to address the matter and has drafted “operating principles” based on its input. Among the concepts the agency is considering are a central “clearinghouse” of warning messages created by food manufacturers, point-of-sale pamphlets, cash-register-receipt warnings, on-product warning labels, or shelf signs. Public comments can be submitted during the workshop or in writing until January 16, 2009.
Food activist Marion Nestle reports in her “What to Eat” blog that the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board has approved a rule to allow “farmed carnivorous fish to eat meal and oil derived from sustainably wild-caught fish.” The board’s decision means that wild fish cannot be classified as organic, but farm-raised fish can be considered organic even if they eat fish meal made with wild fish. Citing Food Chemical News, Nestle notes that the board also approved the use of open net pens in organic aquaculture with restrictions to prevent farmed fish from escaping and the recycling of nutrients. “Net pens would only be allowed in specified areas to avoid lice contamination.” Consumers Union reportedly criticized the proposal at a press conference held before the board meeting at which the vote was taken, focusing on the use of “net cages,” which purportedly allow waste and disease from fish farms to…
FDA has reportedly opened the first of several overseas offices in Beijing, China, where eight U.S. officials described as “inspectors and senior technical experts in foods, medicines and medical devices” will work with Chinese regulators to improve export safety. FDA plans to launch two additional branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as expand its presence in India and Latin America. The agency will also train and certify third-party inspectors to ensure the safety of products bound for the U.S. market. FDA has lately come under fire for failing to “[keep] pace with the growing number of food firms,” according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which said federal regulators have “little assurance that companies comply with food-labeling laws and regulations.” Furthermore, China’s reputation has suffered both domestically and abroad as reports of melamine-tainted infant formula and agricultural products continue to surface. “We're opening up a new era, not just new…
EPA has published a notice seeking public comment on a petition filed by a number of environmental and consumer interest groups calling on the agency to classify nano-silver as a pesticide, require “formal pesticide registration of all products containing nanoscale silver, analyze the potential human health and environmental risks of nanoscale silver, [and] take regulatory actions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) against existing products that contain nanoscale silver.” Comments must be submitted by January 20, 2008. According to the notice, potentially affected parties are those businesses “engaged in the manufacturing of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.” The petitioners, including the International Center for Technology Assessment, Friends of the Earth, Food & Water Watch, and the Consumers Union, apparently note that “scientists have identified that nanoscale materials can have fundamentally different properties from the non-nanoscale or bulk forms of the same compounds, and that these unique properties…
