The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a citizen petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeking a declaration that four antibiotic-resistant (ABR) strains of Salmonella are adulterants under federal law. This is CSPI’s second petition on the matter and attempts to respond to data gaps identified by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) when it denied the consumer advocacy organization’s 2011 petition in July 2014. Details about the denial appear in Issue 532 of this Update. CSPI bolsters the first petition with additional information on ABR Salmonella outbreaks, including numbers of individuals sickened and types of antibiotics to which the infections were resistant. CSPI also emphasizes that FSIS has already been declaring these pathogens adulterants on a case-by-case basis in issuing certain recalls, but its inconsistency in this regard, in CPSI’s view, is “putting consumers at risk.” While CSPI argues that its first petition…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is currently engaged in a campaign to ban foie gras production throughout the European Union (EU). Writing in the September 17, 2014, issue of The Parliament Magazine, PETA UK Director Mimi Bekhechi urges readers to sign a letter to EU officials calling on them to stop the production of foie gras, produced by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers, in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, and Spain. Bekhechi cites scientific evidence as clear proof “that the production of foie gras is not only cruel but also incompatible with the European Commission’s regulations on food production.” According to PETA, more than 200,000 individuals have already signed the letter. PETA also claims that “many animals on foie gras farms are kept in cramped cages that do not comply with Council of Europe recommendations.” Issue 538
Nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, Inc. and two of its members have filed an action against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Food Safety and Inspection Service seeking to enjoin their new National Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) rules. Food & Water Watch, Inc. v. Vilsack, No. 14-1547 (D.D.C., filed September 11, 2014). Details about the rules, which take effect October 20, 2014, appear in Issue 532 of this Update. The plaintiffs allege that the rules violate the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and Administrative Procedure Act (APA). They interpret the PPIA as requiring “that federal inspectors critically appraise all chicken and turkey carcasses and viscera,” and set forth how increased line speeds and rules giving poultry employees, without training or certification, the authority to inspect and remove adulterated birds or parts from processing lines before inspectors see them violate this requirement. Without actual inspection of every bird,…
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s (Cal/EPA’s) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is requesting public input for ways of improving the implementing regulations of the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). More specifically, the agency invites stakeholders’ ideas about (i) alternative risk levels for chemicals in foods; (ii) revisions to the Naturally Occurring regulation; (iii) revisions and a restructuring of the Safe Use Determination process; (iv) clarification of the regulatory provisions on averaging exposures; (v) chemicals for priority consideration in the development of or update of Safe Harbor levels; (vi) new interpretive guidance; and (vii) the use of data on postnatal developmental exposures. OEHHA must receive comments and supporting documentation by 5 p.m. on November 17, 2014. Issue 538
The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) is joining with the European Commission over the next year to host meetings for the six U.S.-EU Communities of Research (CORs) that focus on environmental, health and safety concerns related to nanomaterials. CORs were established as a means by which scientists can share protocols and identify research gaps and obstacles. Before September 30, 2015, the CORs will hold teleconferences and Webinars addressing (i) exposure through product life, with material characterization; (ii) ecotoxicity testing and predictive models, with material characterization; (iii) predictive modeling for human health, with material characterization; (iv) databases and ontologies; (v) risk assessment; and (vi) risk management and control. More details about the upcoming meetings will be posted here. See Federal Register, September 18, 2014. Issue 538
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups have requested that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider its decision that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not required to begin proceedings to withdraw approval of certain antibiotics in livestock feed. NRDC Inc. v. FDA, No. 12-2106 (2d Cir., petition filed September 8, 2014). Additional details about the Second Circuit’s split ruling appear in Issue 531 of this Update. According to a news source, the petitioners contend that the panel majority overlooked FDA’s initial findings that the use of antibiotics in animal feed is unsafe and “writes the withdrawal provision out of the Food and Drug Act.” FDA considered the safety of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed in 1977, but never conducted adversarial hearings with industry as purportedly required under the law, opting instead to seek the voluntary withdrawal of animal feed with antibiotics from the market. See Law360,…
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has released the first part of its bisphenol A (BPA) report, which provides an overview of regulatory and scientific developments through March 2014. Slated for publication in 2015, the second part of the report will assess the European Food Safety Authority’s final opinion on the risks of BPA exposure for consumers; a Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks assessment of patients exposed to BPA; and two advisory reports from the Dutch Health Council on prenatal BPA exposure and BPA analogues. In addition to summarizing what is known about BPA’s environmental impact, the current report addresses human BPA exposure via consumer products, food, medical devices, and inhalation during the manufacture of BPA-containing epoxy resins. Based on this overview, RIVM concludes that despite various studies associating BPA with adverse immune effects, obesity, diabetes, and prostate cancer, “[t]here is still…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against a TV commercial claiming that Kellogg’s “Special K Multi Grain Porridge” contained “30% less fat than other porridges.” According to ASA, which received complaints from PepsiCo Inc. and 14 other competitors, Kellogg Marketing and Sales Co. (UK) Ltd. argued that the advertisement’s reduced-fat comparative claim complied with the Annex to EC Regulation 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims Made on Food. To this end, Kellogg provided ASA and Clearcast with the data and methods used to conduct product comparisons under this regulation. The company reportedly explained that all varieties of Special K porridges contained 5.5 percent fat or less, whereas the top 75 percent of porridge products on the market contained an average fat content of 7.84 percent. “Kellogg also pointed out than none of the products included in the comparison had a fat content of 5.5% or less,” noted…
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Food Standards Agency on September 4, 2014, issued a final report evaluating U.K. food supply networks and containing recommendations for government action to address any weaknesses. The government commissioned the report from University of Belfast Professor Chris Elliott following a 2013 incident known as “Horsegate” in which various beef products were found to be adulterated with undeclared horse meat. In response to the report’s eight major recommendations, the government has vowed to establish a Food Crime Unit by the end of 2014. Supported by a number of state, local, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, the Unit will reportedly focus its initial efforts on gathering intelligence about the nature and risks of food fraud. Other actions the government reportedly plans to implement go from setting up a network of food analytical laboratories to using standardized testing methodologies and creating a…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly taking measures to bolster intra-agency program processes based on a comprehensive review of the scientific capacity and management of the Chemical Safety Program across the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). FDA plans to address improvements in the principal categories of science, communication and collaboration, and training and expertise. Among other things, the agency intends to (i) update the agency’s Toxicological Principles for the Safety Assessment of Food Ingredients (Redbook); (ii) establish consistent methodologies for safety and risk assessments within and across CFSAN offices and between CFSAN and CVM; (iii) increase collaboration on emerging issues with other federal agencies; and (iv) create an experts database to help identify potential collaborators both inside and outside the agency. See FDA Constituent Update, August 28, 2014. Issue 537
