The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that agency analysts turned to next-generation sequencing to test samples collected during a Salmonella outbreak that purportedly sickened nearly 300 people from 44 states and the District of Columbia. The 2009 2010 outbreak was linked to the spice rub used on certain salamis and was ultimately traced to a single food facility. According to FDA, “The findings supported the information gathered in the field phase of the investigation and suggest an important role for this novel tool in augmenting future outbreak investigations.” See FDA Press Release, February 24, 2011.
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press release, FSIS has offered two definitions for “catfish,” one limited to all species in the family Ictaluridae and a broader one that covers all species in the order Siluriformes, which includes Ictaluridae, Pangasiidae and Clariidae, the three families “typically found in human food channels.” The proposed rule would also require, among other provisions, that all catfish “produced in or imported to the United States” bear an FSIS inspection mark or “a mark of inspection from the country from which it was exported.” In addition, the agency has suggested plans for (i) inspecting catfish farms, (ii)…
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has requested that Attorney General Eric Holder provide an update on the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the 2009 Salmonella outbreak involving contaminated peanuts from Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) facilities. As Leahy reminds Holder in his February 22, 2011, letter, the outbreak was linked to the deaths of nine people and purportedly sickened more than 700 others. He also cites his previous request that the department conduct “a full criminal investigation into this matter.” PCA declared bankruptcy in 2009, and neither its former CEO nor other executives have been charged to date. According to Leahy, “Given the PCA investigation, the pistachio recall, and last summer’s salmonella outbreak from eggs, my concerns remain that wrongdoers are disregarding the health and safety of American consumers by choosing to sell contaminated products. I hope that there has been a thorough criminal investigation into PCA’s conduct at the least,…
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an organization devoted to preventive medicine, a vegan diet and animal rights, has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming the agencies used deliberately obscure language in their 2010 Dietary Guidelines regarding the foods consumers should avoid. While the guidelines specifically call for increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, PCRM contends that the agencies “hide the food Americans should eat less of. The Guidelines use biochemical terms, such as ‘saturated fat’ and ‘cholesterol’ instead of specific food terms ‘meat’ and ‘cheese.’” According to PCRM, the guidelines are written this way due to “the USDA’s close ties to the meat and dairy industries, including fast-food companies such as McDonald’s.” The organization also apparently blames USDA’s dual mission of giving nutritional advice to Americans and promoting American agricultural products for the use of language…
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have solicited public comment on complementary draft policies aiming “to enable the development of sustainable marine aquaculture.” According to NOAA, these policies apply to “the farming of marine organisms such as shellfish, finfish, and algae for food, habitat restoration, and rebuilding of wild fish stocks,” and outline how the agency plans “to fund research into innovative aquaculture technologies, work with partners to create job initiatives that encourage the growth of the industry, and grant access to favorable sites for aquaculture facilities.” To this end, the NOAA draft policy specifically offers “a national approach for supporting sustainable commercial production, expanding restoration aquaculture, and researching and developing new technologies.” It also includes principles meant to guide the regulation of aquaculture in federal waters, with an emphasis on (i) ecosystem compatibility, (ii) compatibility with other uses, (iii) the best available…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a determination of nonregulated status for a corn variety genetically engineered (GE) to facilitate ethanol production. Developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Event 3272 or Enogen™ corn produces a microbial enzyme that, according to the petition for deregulation, is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be a regulated article under APHIS’ regulations in 7 CFR part 340.” After reviewing the scientific data and soliciting public feedback on a draft environmental assessment, APHIS has agreed that this variety of GE corn “should be granted nonregulated status” as of February 15, 2011. See Federal Register, February 15, 2011. Meanwhile, corn millers and other food industry interests have reportedly criticized the decision, telling The New York Times that cross-pollination with food-grade corn “could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a regulatory petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking the agency to prohibit two types of caramel coloring used in cola, beer, soy sauce, and other foods. According to CSPI, “the artificial brown coloring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures,” resulting in “the formation of 2-methylimidazole [2-MI] and 4-methylimidazole [4-MI], which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukemia in laboratory mice or rats.” The consumer watchdog is thus urging FDA to prohibit Caramel III and Caramel IV food colorings because both are made with ammonia. Experts with ties to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) have also penned a letter in support of this request, citing several NTP animal studies finding “’clear evidence’ for carcinogenicity” of both 2-MI and 4-MI. “[T]he…
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman tackles the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) latest dietary guidelines in this opinion piece claiming that “the agency’s nutrition experts are at odds with its other mission: to promote our bounty in whatever form its processors make it.” According to Bittman, the guidelines are clearest when promoting “good” foods like fresh produce, but become “vague” when describing what not to eat, often resorting to scientific language and acronyms like SOFAS—Solid Fats and Added Sugars—“to avoid offending meat and sugar lobbies.” “The [USDA] can succeed at its conflicting goals only by convincing us that eating manufactured food lower in SOFAS is ‘healthy,’ thus implicitly endorsing hyper-engineered junk food with added fiber, reduced and solid fats and so on, ‘food’ that is often unimaginably far from its origins,” opines Bittman. “The advice people need is to cook and eat more real food, at the expense…
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist, writing in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, has reportedly cited the lack of a suitable definition for nanotechnology as an obstacle to the potential labeling of foods and packaging incorporating nanoparticles or materials. According to Jean Buzby, while the National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology in terms of size, i.e., “dimensions between approximately 1 and 100nm,” this range “is an arbitrary measure and was not set on any real meaning or relationship between particle size and toxicological effects or kinetics, such as chemical reaction rates.” Buzby apparently opines that the technology’s potential benefits need to be communicated to the public and calls for increased funding for safety research. In a related development, the Carolina Academic Press is reportedly poised to release a law school treatise on nanotechnology titled Nanotechnology Law and Policy Cases and Materials. Authored by Texas Tech University School of Law Professor…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has requested comments on two petitions for rulemaking submitted by animal rights groups seeking reformed regulations concerning “the disposition of non-ambulatory disabled” livestock at slaughter. FSIS also plans to clarify its requirements for “condemned non-ambulatory disabled cattle at official slaughter establishments.” The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) apparently asked FSIS to “repeal a provision in its ante-mortem inspection regulations that permits veal calves that are unable to rise from a recumbent position and walk because they are tired or cold to be set apart and held for treatment.” Current provisions allow those calves, if found free of disease, “to proceed to slaughter if they are able to rise and walk after being warmed or rested” and ultimately processed for human food. HSUS has petitioned the agency to amend the regulations “to require that non-ambulatory disabled veal calves be…
