The Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists has submitted a comment backed by more than 280 health experts asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include a percent daily value for the proposed “added sugars” declaration on food and beverage labeling. Responding to the agency’s request for comments on proposed changes to the nutrition and supplement facts labels, the letter signed by Robert Lustig, Marion Nestle and members of the Healthy Food Action network urges FDA to set a maximum daily value for added sugars at 50 grams—approximately 10 percent of recommended daily calorie intake—and to list a percent daily value on the Nutrition Facts label. “Many food and beverage manufacturers add excessive amounts of sugar to their products, including those that they market as healthy options. In our current food environment, many people are unknowingly and unavoidably consuming excess sugar,” opines the…
Category Archives Legislation, Regulations and Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has denied the May 2011 petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) seeking an interpretive rule declaring certain antibiotic-resistant (ABR) strains of Salmonella to be adulterants when found in raw ground meat and raw ground poultry. Additional information about the petition appears in Issue 396 of this Update. CSPI also asked the agency “to ensure adequate sampling and testing for these pathogens and to remove contaminated ground meat and ground poultry products from the human food supply.” FSIS essentially found insufficient data to distinguish ABR Salmonella strains from other Salmonella strains that are susceptible to antibiotics and thus stated that additional data on the characteristics of ABR Salmonella are needed to determine whether the strains identified in the petition “could qualify as adulterants under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a final rule amending poultry slaughter regulations and establishing a new poultry inspection system (NPIS) for young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments. Part of USDA’s response to a presidential executive order (E.O. 13563) asking agencies to review and improve existing regulations, the final rule aims to “facilitate pathogen reduction in poultry products, improve the effectiveness of poultry slaughter inspection, make better use of the Agency’s resources, and remove unnecessary regulatory obstacles to innovation.” Optional for young chicken and turkey establishments, which can choose to retain their current inspection system, NPIS will not replace the Streamlined Inspection System (SIS), the New Line Speed Inspection System (NELS) or the New Turkey Inspection System (NTIS), as was originally proposed. FSIS has emphasized, however, that NPIS will allow inspectors “to perform more offline inspection activities that are more effective in ensuring…
A group of 17 U.S. senators has submitted a letter to the Commerce Department warning that a proposed suspension agreement imposing quotas on Mexican sugar imports would violate the North American Free Trade Agreement, “threaten the viability of American food manufacturers and raise food prices for American families.” Led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), the group includes Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Following petitions by members of the American Sugar Alliance, the Commerce Department launched an April 2014 investigation into allegations that Mexico’s mills are dumping subsidized sweetener in the United States, and the department is reportedly due to decide whether to impose duties on Mexican imports soon. “This mutual market access is beneficial to the United States: U.S. growers and refiners do not produce enough sugar to meet the demands of U.S. consumers, and imports are necessary to keep America’s food manufacturers…
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have written a July 28, 2014, letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, requesting additional information about how the agency plans to implement and evaluate new policies designed to combat the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Noting that “four times as many antibiotics are used in food animal production as are used in human medicine,” the senators praise recent guidance intended to curtail the routine use of these drugs to promote animal growth, but question whether these measures go far enough. “We remain concerned, however, that many of the remaining approved uses of antibiotics to contain and prevent diseases are not strictly defined, and still allow for the continuous administration of low doses of antibiotics,” they write, pointing to loosely-worded guidelines that approve antibiotics to prevent or contain disease “in times of stress.” In particular, the…
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has reportedly introduced legislation (H.R. 5279) seeking to implement a nationwide sugar-sweetened beverage tax. Dubbed the SWEET Act, the measure “would institute a tax of 1 cent per teaspoon of caloric sweetener such as sugar or high-fructose corn syrup,” according to a July 30, 2014, press release. Revenue raised by the proposed tax would be used to fund prevention and treatment programs, nutrition education and other initiatives designed to reduce obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and tooth decay. “There is a clear relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and a host of other health conditions,” said DeLauro. “We are at a crucial tipping point and the SWEET Act will help correct the path we are currently on.” Meanwhile, Mark Bittman has already penned a New York Times opinion piece in support of the bill, arguing that a national soda tax might not pass congressional muster right now but…
The Second Circuit has reversed a district court’s decision that ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate hearings responding to a livestock antibiotics challenge from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) based on a 1977 agency finding that the use of growth antibiotics for healthy animals was unsafe. NRDC v. FDA, No. 12-2106 (2d Cir., order entered July 24, 2014). Two judges were “firmly persuaded that Congress has not required the FDA to hold hearings whenever FDA officials have scientific concerns about the safety of animal drug usage,” that FDA has discretion on proceedings to withdraw approval of animal drugs, and that the law requires “withdrawal of approval of animal drugs or particular uses of such drugs only when the FDA has made a final determination, after notice and hearing, that the drug could pose a threat to human health and safety.” In 1977, FDA planned to…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed a competitor’s complaint alleging that Unilever UK Ltd.’s commercial for its pyramid-shaped teabags “exaggerated the capability and performance of the advertised product.” Tata Global Beverages reportedly argued that (i) the visual demonstration used in a TV commercial for PG Tips tea was misleading, (ii) Unilever’s claim that “the tea has more room to move freeing the great fresh taste” could not be substantiated, and (iii) “the comparison with a round teabag denigrated Tata’s brand ‘Tetley’ because they believed that they were an identifiable competitor and that the ad portrayed the brand in a negative light.” According to ASA, Unilever not only countered that the visual demonstration in question “imitated consumer behavior when making tea,” but noted that the claims reflected the results of product testing and mathematical modeling supplied to ASA for review. Denying that the ad made a direct comparison to…
The Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has announced new administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) for businesses that fail to meet the requirements laid out in the Meat Inspection Act (MIA) and Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990 (MIR). According to a July 16, 2014, press release, the agency is amending the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations to “allow CFIA inspectors to issue an AMP for noncompliance with 84 provisions of [MIA] and [MIR],” which include items related to both food safety and non-safety issues such as labeling. “AMPs are an additional tool that will support the CFIA in delivering its mandate for food safety, explained Chief Food Safety Officer for Canada Martine Dubuc. “AMPs do not replace existing inspection and enforcement tools, but instead offer additional flexibility in addressing meat-related violations.” Issue 531
Health Canada has proposed nutrition labeling changes as part of an ongoing effort to make food and beverage labels easier for consumers to read. Based on a public consultation, the conclusions of Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Food Labelling Modernization Initiative and a technical review of current labels, the amendments would revise the Nutrition Facts table, ingredient list and suggested Daily Values to take into account “the most up to date scientific information and consumption habits.” In particular, the proposed changes would (i) adjust serving sizes to reflect “the amounts of food that Canadians actually eat in one sitting,” (ii) update the Daily Values and nutrients displayed in the Nutrition Facts table; (iii) refresh the appearance of the Nutrition Facts table and ingredient list to emphasize calories, added sugars and other nutrients of concern to Canadian consumers, and (iv) create “an optional information box highlighting the presence of certain bioactive components,…
