Three congressional Republicans assert that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no authority to weigh economic factors in conducting an environmental review for genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Plant Protection Act. In a January 19, 2011, letter submitted to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, they vilify him for including an option that would impose geographic restrictions and isolation distances on the crop. House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) contend that the option was included in the final environmental impact statement (EIS) solely “to interfere in planting decisions based on the risk of economic harm due to pollen drift.” According to the congressmen, the option “is a poor substitute for existing options available to farmers to amicably resolve the concerns regarding co-existence of agriculture biotechnology, conventional and organic crops.” They also claim that “the implications…
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued draft guidance “to address the labeling, composition of and use of percentage statements in ‘made with organic (specified ingredients or food groups).’” Under NOP regulations, conventional non-organic ingredients produced without the use of genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge or ionizing radiations, as well as natural and synthetic substances exempted from the NOP’s prohibited ingredients list, may comprise up to 30 percent of a product labeled “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)).” Such labeling may also display the percentage of organic ingredients in the product, but must be accompanied by the appropriate “made with organic” statement. According to NOP, acceptable variations of percentage claim statements include: (i) ‘‘X% Organic,’’ (ii) ‘‘X% Organic Ingredients,’’ (iii) ‘‘Contains X% Organic Ingredients,’’ and (iv) ‘‘Made with X% Organic Ingredients.” Other percentage claims “may be acceptable as long as they are not misleading,”…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a 78-page proposed rule revising school breakfast and lunch nutrition requirements as a way to combat childhood obesity. Noting that implementation would improve dietary habits and protect children’s health, the rule is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 recently signed into law. Based on recommendations released in 2009 by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, the revisions reportedly represent the first major overhaul to school meals in 15 years. Among other things, the proposal calls for meals served to approximately 32 million school children to (i) include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk; (ii) limit sodium and saturated and trans fats; and (iii) help meet nutritional needs of children within their established calorie minimums and maximums. “We understand that these improved meal standards may present challenges for some school districts, but the new law provides…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has announced a January 28, 2011, forum to discuss the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) role in ensuring safe food. IOM’s Committee on Review of FDA will meet in Washington, D.C., with agency representatives to review the recommendations put forth in its June 2010 report, Enhancing Food Safety, which described FDA as “reactive, lacking a systematic focus on prevention.” The findings specifically asked FDA to adopt a “risk-based model” that involves increased coordination “with state and other federal agencies that share responsibility for protecting the nation’s food supply.” It also called on Congress to amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act “to explicitly provide the authority FDA needs to fulfill its food safety mission.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced an initiative to address “the prevalence of animal drug products marketed in the United States without approval or other legal marketing status.” Unapproved animal drugs on the market include injectable vitamins, shampoos, liniments, and electrolyte and glucose solutions. FDA is concerned that the safety and effectiveness of these drugs has not been demonstrated and is open “to using both the agency’s existing authority and new approaches to make more drugs legally available to veterinarians, animal producers and pet owners,” according to a December 20, 2010, press release. The agency requests comments by February 18, 2011, on ways to increase the availability of legally marketed animal drugs and has launched a web page detailing problems involving the use of unapproved products. See Federal Register, FDA Press Release, December 20, 2010.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reopened the comment period on revisions proposed in 1997 to its rule regarding substances generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Written or electronic comments are requested by March 28, 2011. The proposed revisions would “replace the voluntary GRAS affirmation petition process . . . with a voluntary notification procedure whereby any person may notify us of a determination that a particular use of a substance in human food . . . or in food for animals . . . is GRAS.” The proposal would also “clarify the criteria . . . whereby the use of a substance is not subject to the premarket approval requirements of the [Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act] because it is GRAS.” The Federal Register notice refers to several developments since 1997, including the use of nanotechnology in foods, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on FDA oversight of GRAS…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule requiring mandatory nutrition labeling on 40 major cuts of single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 requires nutrition facts labels on most foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but USDA-regulated meat and poultry has been exempt, allowing producers to supply the information on a voluntary basis. Effective January 1, 2012, the rule calls for packages of ground or chopped meat and poultry to feature nutrition fact panels on their labels, and whole, raw cuts of meat and poultry to either include facts panels on their package labels or have them available for consumers at the point-of-purchase. Designed to educate consumers about nutrition and diets, the rule requires the labels to supply the number of calories and the grams of total fat and saturated fat. “Additionally, any product that lists a…
The Federal Trade Commission has announced the settlement of allegations that The Dannon Co. exaggerated the health benefits of its Activia® yogurt and DanActive® dairy beverage. Under the terms of the settlement, Dannon does not admit any law violations, but agrees to stop promoting its yogurt as a product that relieves temporary irregularity or its dairy beverage as a product that reduces the likelihood of getting a cold or the flu, unless certain conditions are met. These include that the immunity claims are specifically permitted by the Food and Drug Administration and the irregularity claims are substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The company also agreed to pay $21 million to the 39 states whose attorneys general were also investigating its advertising claims. According to a news source, Dannon has indicated that it will in the future clarify that Activia’s benefits require three servings of the product daily. The…
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) has issued a green paper titled Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework, which sets forth initial policy recommendations for “promoting consumer privacy online while ensuring the Internet remains a platform that spurs innovation, job creation, and economic growth.” To this end, the report “reviews the technological, legal, and policy contexts of current commercial data privacy challenges; describes the importance of developing a more dynamic approach to commercial privacy both in the United States and around the world; and discusses policy options (and poses additional questions) to meet today’s privacy challenges in ways that enable continued innovation.” Designed to promote “privacy, transparency and informed choice,” the IPTF framework reflects input from stakeholders in industry, academia and government. It specifically calls for (i) “establishing Fair Information Practice Principles comparable to a ‘Privacy Bill of Rights’ for…
According to a news source, a district court in the District of Columbia has denied a request seeking an order that the Justice Department submit a proposal for settling claims of loan program discrimination filed by female farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead, the court apparently urged the lawyers representing the litigants to work together to reach an agreement and to report back during a January 14, 2011, status hearing. Unlike recent cases addressing charges that USDA discriminated against African-American (Pigford I and Pigford II) and Native American (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) farmers, Love v. Vilsack reportedly involves putative class claims that have not been certified. Counsel for the women farmers and those representing Hispanic farmers with similar claims (Garcia v. Vilsack) contend that the government’s settlement proposals thus far pale in comparison to the sums agreed to in Pigford ($2.25 billion) and Keepseagle ($680 million). See National Journal Daily, December…
