At the request of Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has prepared and released a report titled “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States.” Starting from the premise that “Americans consume unhealthy amounts of sodium in their food,” which puts some 100,000 at risk of premature death from conditions related to high blood pressure, the report calls for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “set mandatory national standards for the sodium content in foods—not banning outright the addition of salt to foods but beginning the process of reducing excess sodium in processed foods and menu items to a safer level.” According to IOM, this reduction must be carried out gradually so consumers’ tastes could adjust, a process that could take up to 10 years. Other recommendations include an FDA modification of the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of sodium-containing compounds added to processed foods—“that is, change…
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has requested nominations for five upcoming vacancies. The 15-member board is charged with developing and recommending a proposed National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. NOSB is seeking two organic producers, two “consumer/public interest” individuals and a USDA-accredited certifying agent to serve five-year terms. Written nominations must be postmarked on or before July 17, 2010. See Federal Register, March 22, 2010.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a directive that revises its list of suitable ingredients that can used in the production of meat, poultry and egg products. FSIS will update the directive quarterly by issuing revisions as opposed to amendments. FSIS has added hypobromous acid and oat filler as suitable ingredients for certain processes. Hyporomous acid, which can kill the cells of many pathogens, may be used in water or ice under specific conditions to process meat and poultry products. Oat filler can be used in various meat products where binders are permitted and in whole muscle meat products “not to exceed 3.5 percent of the product formulation.” Oat filler must be listed as an “isolated oat product” or “modified oat product” in the ingredients statement and whole muscle meat products must be descriptively labeled.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Office of Inspector General (IG) has released a report, which finds that the federal government’s “national residue program is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for harmful residues” of veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals. According to the report, federal agencies have failed to establish thresholds for “dangerous substances” such as copper or dioxin, an omission that “has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce.” The IG also found that USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is responsible for the national residue program, “does not attempt to recall meat, even when its tests have confirmed the presence of veterinary drugs.” Among other matters, the report calls for (i) better coordination among FSIS, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration; (ii) an expansion of the substances these agencies test for; (iii) improvements to the…
Following a recent American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting at which scientists discussed how wines could be authenticated by measuring carbon isotopes, whose levels varied in the atmosphere during the years nuclear weapons were tested, a number of recent articles discuss the subject of food fraud. Said to affect some 5 to 7 percent of a range of foods from cheeses, fish, honey, and wine to expensive spices such as saffron, the problem has not apparently received the attention required from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), due to its focus on more pressing food safety concerns and contamination outbreaks. A consultant studying the matter for the Grocery Manufacturers Association was quoted as saying, “[Food fraud is] growing very rapidly, and there’s more of it than you might think.” Not only shoppers are fooled by mislabeled foods; major companies have been stung as well. Information about major food manufacturers and retailers…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reopened the comment period for a proposed rule published August 4, 1993, that would amend the quality standard for bottled water. FDA is seeking further comment on finalizing the allowable level for the chemical di(2 ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) in the bottled water quality standard. In a final rule published March 26, 1996, FDA deferred final action on DEHP’s proposed allowable level of 0.006 milligrams/liter (mg/L) in response to a comment which “maintained that finalizing the proposed allowable level for DEHP would result in a limit on the level of this chemical in bottled water that conflicts with this chemical’s permitted use under the existing food additive regulation for closures with sealing gaskets, and that taking such action would effectively ban the use of this plasticizer.” The comment further stated that “gaskets containing DEHP are permitted for use in packaging food and bottled water under…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published an action plan to address concerns over bisphenol A (BPA), which has purportedly “caused reproductive and developmental effects in animal studies and may also affect the endocrine system.” Intended to strengthen the agency’s chemical management program, the plan focuses on the plasticizer’s environmental impact and proposes (i) adding BPA to the chemical concern list; (ii) gathering information on BPA concentrations in surface, ground and drinking water; (iii) requiring manufacturers to provide EPA with test data related to long-term effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife; (iv) using EPA’s Design for the Environment program to reduce unnecessary exposures and find acceptable substitutes; and (v) continuing to evaluate “the potential disproportionate impact on children and other sub-populations through exposure from non-food packaging uses.” In addition, EPA has pledged to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal entities to…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Bee Research Laboratory has released the preliminary results of a survey estimating that honeybee colony losses nationwide “were approximately 29 percent from all causes from September 2008 to April 2009,” touching off speculation about the fate of the ubiquitous pollinator. Federal investigators reported that only 15 percent of all colonies lost during the 2008/09 winter apparently died of colony collapse disorder (CCD), leading USDA to emphasize “the urgent need for research” on general honeybee health. “It’s just gotten so much worse in the past four years,” USDA Research Leader Jeff Pettis was quoted as saying. “We’re just not keeping bees alive that long.” According to media sources, apiary experts have blamed the honeybee die-off on a combination of viruses, bacteria and pesticide residues. In particular, beekeepers have cited a March 19, 2010, study published in PLoS One that reportedly identified at least one systemic pesticide…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced an April 7, 2010, public meeting to discuss draft U.S. positions for the 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) slated for May 3-7, 2010, in Quebec City, Canada. Issues to be discussed include (i) “Labeling Provisions in Draft Codex Standards”; (ii) “Implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health,” which includes consideration of the “List of Nutrients That Are Always Declared on a Voluntary or Mandatory Basis,” and the legibility and readability of nutrition labeling; (iii) “Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labeling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods”; (iv) “Labeling of Foods and Food Ingredients Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/ Genetic Engineering”; and (v) “Discussion Paper on the Need to Amend the General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods in Line with the International Organization of…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule designed to enhance the safety of meat and poultry products. The proposal would require that regulated establishments (i) promptly notify FSIS if any unsafe, unwholesome or “misbranded meat or poultry product has entered commerce”; (ii) “prepare and maintain current procedures for the recall of meat and poultry products produced and shipped by the establishment”; and (iii) “document each reassessment of the establishment’s process control plans, that is, its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plans.” According to a March 25, 2010, Federal Register notice, the proposed rule is needed because (i) “FSIS believes that prompt notification that adulterated or misbranded product has entered commerce is an important prerequisite for effective action to prevent such product from causing harm”; (ii) “having established procedures will help establishments to conduct effective and efficient recalls, should it be…
