Responding to a request from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel for Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) has published a statement on the presences of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, particularly seafood. According to the CONTAM panel, microplastics range in size from 0.1 to 5,000 μm and are either manufactured to that size (primary microplastics) or fragmented (secondary microplastics). Nanoplastics, which range in size from approximately 1 to 100 nm (0.001–0.1 μm), “originate from engineered material or can be produced during fragmentation of microplastic debris.” After reviewing the scientific literature, the panel concludes that more work is needed to develop and standardize analytical methods for microplastics and nanoplastics “in order to assess their presence, identity and to quantify their amount in food.” As the statement notes, “Occurrence data are limited. In contrast to microplastics no methods or occurrence data in…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a new working group “to evaluate new scientific evidence on the potential effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on the immune system.” Prompted by a Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment report on new studies “describing pre- and perinatal effects of BPA on the immune system,” EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids plans to issue a scientific statement on BPA and immunotoxicity at its September 13-15, 2016, plenary meeting. See EFSA News Release, June 20, 2016. Issue 609
At the behest of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) has issued a report examining “the approaches to data collection, analysis, and interpretation that have been used in recent reports on obesity prevalence and trends at the national, state, and local level, particularly among U.S. children, adolescents, and young adults.” Titled Assessing Prevalence and Trends in Obesity: Navigating the Evidence, the report reviews the literature to date, providing “a framework for assessing and interpreting published reports,” as well as “recommendations for improving future data collection efforts and filling data gaps.” Given the various challenges presented by data collection—such as inconsistencies among data sources; insufficient sample size; discrepancies between measured and self-reported data index; and the limitations inherent in trend estimates and interpretations—NAS offers the Assessing Prevalence and Trends (APT) Framework to help stakeholders, policymakers and other “end users” compare various studies…
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has proposed wine labeling revisions to address concerns about the accuracy of labeling information for wines that contain more than 7-percent alcohol by volume but are exempt from label approval requirements. According to TTB, the regulations that govern wine labeling include (i) 27 CFR 24, which requires wine containers to feature “the name and address of the wine premises where bottled or packed; the brand name; the alcohol content; the kind of wine; and the net contents of the container,” and (ii) 27 CFR 4, which governs “the use of one or more grape variety names as a type designation, the use of type designations of varietal significance, the use of vintage dates, and the use of appellations of origin on wine labels,” such as the use of American viticultural area (AVA) names. Wines not intended for interstate or foreign commerce,…
Following June 11, 2016, riots and arrests in Marseille related to a Euro 2016 match between England and Russia, France has reportedly restricted the sale of alcohol in cities hosting the next games in the soccer tournament. Under the measures, public areas and shops in Lille and Lens could not sell alcohol before or during the matches, while bars and cafes were told not to sell drinks in containers that could be used as missiles thrown from terraces. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve told reporters, “I have asked for all necessary measures to be taken to prohibit the sale, consumption and transport of alcoholic drinks in sensitive areas on match days and the day before, and on days when fan zones are open.” An executive from the Football Supporters Federation, which supports England and Wales teams and fans, told the BBC that the ban would not work, arguing that “the…
Following the release of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final guidance finding that “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) should be labeled as “sugar” on food products, Lifeway Foods has filed a motion arguing that the May 2016 rule should not affect the outcome of a consumer’s lawsuit against the company arguing it mislabeled its kefir smoothies. Figy v. Lifeway Foods Inc., No. 13-4828 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., motion filed June 13, 2016). The case is one of many stayed or dismissed without prejudice awaiting FDA guidance after the agency announced it would reconsider the issue in March 2014. In its motion, Lifeway argues that the guidance is “intended to advise” and “does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on the FDA or the public.” “The Guidance has no more bearing on Plaintiff’s claims under California’s consumer protection statutes than it has on his common…
The European Commission (EC) has published a report finding that foods intended for sportspeople do not require special provisions under the regulation on food for specific groups (FSG Regulation), which will replace the framework on foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTs) on July 20, 2016. Based on the results of an external study commissioned by the EC Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, the report explains that the FSG Regulation covers foods targeting vulnerable population groups— such as food for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control—but does not extend to sports foods intended for either (i) sportspeople who practice sport more than once a week, or (ii) lifestyle users who practice sport less than once a week or not at all. “Thus, since a categorization as foodstuff intended for particular nutritional uses will no longer be available to…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf urging the agency to prohibit retail distribution of highly concentrated caffeine products, including powdered (PPC), liquid and inhaled caffeine. The recently released letter supplements CSPI’s 2014 citizen petition requesting the ban following the deaths caused by over-ingestion of caffeine powder. FDA sent warning letters to companies selling the substance, but “FDA’s five letters appear to have ceased the sale of powdered caffeine at only the companies to which the agency addressed the letters,” the CSPI document argues. “In the larger marketplace, sales of PPC remain commonplace, and the substance is still widely available. This compelling evidence demonstrates why a ban is the only step that will protect consumers from the hazards of PPC.” Issue 608
In a letter sent to Nickelodeon and its parent company Viacom, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have called on the children’s entertainment network to stop showing advertisements for purportedly unhealthy foods and beverages that are “powerfully promoting childhood obesity.” Citing another company’s announcement last year that it would no longer accept advertisements for unhealthy foods on television, radio and websites directed at children, the senators asked Nickelodeon to “promptly take similar action to implement strong nutrition standards for all of its marketing to children.” “As a leading multi-media entertainment destination for children and adolescents, Nickelodeon has a special opportunity—and responsibility —to help address our nation’s childhood obesity epidemic,” the senators stated. “We ask that you implement a clear policy to guide the marketing of food to children on Nickelodeon’s various media platforms, including the advertisements on your channels, Internet sites, and…
The Philadelphia City Council Committee of the Whole has backed a 1.5 cents per-ounce tax on sugar-added and artificially sweetened soft drinks, a measure that the council anticipates will raise $91 million over the next year. If approved by final vote as expected, the tax will “fund quality pre-K expansion, community schools, reinvestment in parks and recreation centers, and help pad the City’s General Fund,” according to a June 8, 2016, press release. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) initially proposed a 3-cents-per-ounce levy on sugar-sweetened beverages, but the council concluded that such an increase would raise more revenue than needed. Instead, the committee opted to reduce the tax to 1.5 cents per ounce while expanding the scope to include diet soft drinks. The council also advanced a bill “offering tax credits to merchants that opt to sell healthy beverages in their stores.” “A 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax increase on soft drinks will…
