The Philadelphia City Council this week adopted menu labeling laws that will require chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets to provide extensive nutritional information on printed menus and to list calories on menu boards. Starting January 1, 2010, national and local chains must disclose calories, saturated and trans fats, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus in the same typeface used for food descriptions and price. Opposed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association for its “one-size-fits-all” approach, the regulation also drew criticism from some council members who viewed the bill as an unnecessary burden on the restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, however, praised the new rules as a “useful incentive to the restaurant industry to expand the number and variety of healthy choices on their menus.” See CSPI Press Release, November 6, 2008; Philadelphia Inquirer, November 7, 2008; Meatingplace.com, November 10, 2008. In a related development, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The Chinese government has reportedly arrested the owner of a poultry feed operation implicated in a nationwide scandal involving melamine-tainted animal products. The manufacturer apparently confessed to using the industrial chemical in 212 tons of chicken feed sold to Dalian Hanovo Enterprise Group, which then distributed adulterated eggs to Chinese consumers. The government also destroyed an additional 75 tons of contaminated feed seized from the owner as part of its crackdown on the widespread practice of adding melamine to feed and dairy products to artificially boost protein counts. State media sources have indicated that inspectors have shuttered 238 illegal farms and 130 dairy farms since melamine-laden infant formula first sickened thousands of children. The scandal has closed approximately 20 percent of China’s dairy industry. See What Not To Eat: Marion Nestle, November 12, 2008. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has apparently issued a detention order for milk-containing products imported…
The European Commission this week abolished more than 100 pages of rules and regulations governing the size, shape and color of various vegetables and fruits sold in member countries. The rules reportedly included prescriptions dictating that green asparagus must be green for 80 percent of its length and a cauliflower head must exceed 11 centimeters in diameter. Although it retained the marketing standards for apples, pears, citrus fruits, strawberries, and tomatoes, the commission repealed those pertaining to apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, chicory, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, eggplant, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbages, leeks, melon, onions, peas, plums, rubbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, and watermelon. Organic farmers have greeted the demise of the regulations as a boon to their niche market, which is “about inner quality, not outer appearance,” according to Soil Association Director Patrick Holden. Large retailers like Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda also…
The consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch is calling on supporters to submit comments to the Codex Alimentarius Commission before its November 15, 2008, deadline on a proposal to allow an “acceptable” level of Listeria monocytogenes in food. According to the organization’s senior food organizer, “Those who are advocating this change argue that some Listeria monocytogenes in foods can be tolerated by most people and it is virtually impossible to guarantee the complete absence of Listeria monocytogenes in food. In Europe and Canada, where the weaker standard is already in place, there has been an increase in the incidence of consumers getting sick from foods contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes in recent years.” Apparently, the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene will debate the standard in early December. Food & Water Watch urges commenters to “Tell the Codex Committee that you are opposed to lowering food safety standards for imported foods.” The…
FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) will conduct a roundtable discussion with stakeholders on December 12, 2008, and is tentatively scheduled to “communicate FDA’s nutrition activities” and provide status updates on functional foods, health claims, evidence-based review guides, Critical Path Project on Biomarkers for Use in Health Claims, front-of-pack labeling, and sodium status, among other matters. According to CFSAN, the format will consist of a panel of experts led by the agency’s director, with remarks from David Acheson, FDA Associate Commissioner, and a question and answer session. See CFSAN Constituent Update, November 7, 2008.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a correction to a proposed rule regarding the “importation, interstate movement and release into the environment of certain genetically engineered [GE] organisms.” Where the October 9, 2008, notice indicated that the rule would preempt “no State or local laws or regulations,” the correction substitutes “All State and local laws or regulations that are inconsistent with this rule will be preempted.” Comments on the entire proposal must be submitted on or before November 24, 2008. The original proposal represents the “first comprehensive review and revision of the regulations since they were established in 1987,” bringing the rules “into alignment with provisions of the Plant Protection Act” and updating the rules “in response to advances in genetic science and technology.” Among the changes proposed are provisions to revise the rules’ scope “to make it clear that decisions regarding which organisms are regulated…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has reportedly delayed a decision about whether to list bisphenol A (BPA) under Proposition 65 because it lacks sufficient staff to complete needed research. OEHHA’s Developmental & Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DART) was apparently scheduled to decide whether to include BPA on the list of chemicals known to the state to be reproductive toxicants at a November 20, 2008, meeting, but the chemical, which is used in plastic bottles and to line metal cans, was removed from the agenda and will be addressed at “the earliest possible meeting date following the meeting on Nov. 20.” This may occur a year from now because the DART committee meets annually. See Inside Cal/EPA, October 31, 2008. Meanwhile, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization, has apparently called on major food companies and infant formula manufacturers to “immediately…
California residents this week voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 2 (Prop. 2), an animal welfare measure banning the use of some crates for hens, pregnant pigs and veal calves that do not allow the animals to turn around, lie down or extend their limbs. In addition, the law will require farmers to build pens and cages allowing full range of motion in an effort to eliminate high-density battery cages and reduce Salmonella outbreaks. Prop. 2, which takes effect in 2015, also levies fines of $1,000 or six months in jail for violations. Because most of the state's pork and veal producers have already prohibited confined cages, some agricultural economists expect Prop. 2 to have a disproportionate impact on the $323-million egg industry. The industry-backed California for Safe Food group spent $8.5 million to oppose the measure, as egg farmers expressed concern that the cost of retrofitting their operations will…
The Chinese government has reportedly deployed 369,000 inspectors in a nationwide crackdown on melamine-tainted animal feed. Regulators apparently destroyed more than 3,600 tons of animal feed and shuttered 239 feed operations after food safety tests revealed that eggs in three provinces contained high levels of the industrial plasticizer, which some unscrupulous manufacturers use as an artificial filler in animal feed. In September, melamine-laced infant formula also sickened more than 50,000 infants, prompting an international recall and widespread concerns about Chinese food exports. Nestle SA has since sent 20 research specialists to its Beijing center to strengthen food testing protocols for melamine and other chemicals. “It is illegal for any individual or any enterprise to add melamine into feed, and we will crack down uncompromisingly on melamine,” said Wang Zhicai, director of the animal husbandry and livestock bureau at the Agriculture Ministry. See Bloomberg.com, October 31, 2008; The New York Times, November 1…
The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised pregnant women to reduce their daily caffeine consumption to 200 milligrams – or approximately two mugs of coffee. The agency previously suggested a maximum intake of 300 mg, but lowered its recommendation after the British Medical Journal published an FSA-funded study concluding that a further reduction would lessen the health risks to unborn children. “This is because too much caffeine might result in a baby having a lower birth weight than it should, which can increase the risk of some health conditions later in life,” stated FSA in a November 3, 2008, press release. FSA has since issued guidelines intended to help expectant mothers gauge their caffeine consumption. The agency has calculated that 200 mg is roughly equal to (i) two mugs of instant coffee; (ii) one mug of filtered coffee; (iii) two mugs of tea; (iv) five cans of cola; (v) two…
