A group of U.S. lawmakers, led by Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and James Comer (R-Ky.), have urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to "quickly adopt a policy of enforcement discretion and to consider issuing an interim final rule to regulate [cannabidiol (CBD)] as a dietary supplement and food additive while simultaneously moving forward with a robust framework for evaluating the safety and accurate labeling of these products." The letter stated that the agency's "current regulatory posture on CBD has created significant regulatory and legal uncertainty for participants in this quickly evolving industry. We are discouraged by FDA's estimation that a rulemaking process could span 3 to 5 years. We believe there are more expeditious measures that FDA could take that would establish regulatory clarity while pursuing enforcement actions against bad actors." In the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly took a different path in an effort to…
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a "final rule to modernize swine slaughter inspection and bring it into the 21st century." The rule "amends the regulations to require all swine slaughter establishments to develop written sanitary dressing plans and implement microbial sampling to monitor process control for enteric pathogens that can cause foodborne illness" and "allows market hog establishments to choose if they will operate under [the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System] or continue to operate under traditional inspection." In April 2019, The Washington Post compared the proposed rule to the relationship between aircraft manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration, and FSIS responded with a press release stating, "Shame on you, Washington Post. This story earns you at least four Pinocchios."
The National Advertising Division (NAD) has recommended that Clemens Food Group and its flagship brand, Hatfield Quality Meats, "discontinue the claim 'Ethically Raised by Family Farmers Committed to a Higher Standard of Care, Governed by Third Party Animal Welfare Audits.'" NAD acknowledged that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reviewed the claim, but the "record here did not demonstrate that FSIS considered consumer impact or that it explained its reasoning with respect to its determination on the 'ethically raised' claim. Accordingly, NAD undertook its own review of the challenged claims." The challenger, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), argued that the claim misled "a high percentage" of consumers "because they took the claim to mean that the animals’ treatment and living conditions exceed industry standards." NAD noted that AWI provided a consumer perception survey, and the board found the survey to be methodologically sound. Hatfield submitted "caretaker standards, third-party auditing and…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced "A New Era of Smarter Food Safety," a public meeting "to get input from a broad cross-section of stakeholders on a modern approach the Agency is taking to strengthen its protection of the food supply." The meeting, which will be held October 21, 2019, is intended to "foster a dialogue with our domestic and international regulatory and public health partners, industry, consumers, academia, and others," and input will "be used to shape an FDA Blueprint for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety."
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that it sent warning letters to three companies selling "oils, tinctures, capsules, 'gummies,' and creams containing cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound derived from the cannabis plant." The announcement notes that the letters warn the companies—which have not been identified—that "it is illegal to advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims." The agency states that each company marketed its CBD products as able to "treat or cure serious diseases and health conditions," such as relieving "even the most agonizing pain" or treating autism, anorexia, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions. "In the letters, the FTC urges the companies to review all claims made for their products, including consumer testimonials, to ensure they are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The letters also warn that selling CBD…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Consumer Reports have petitioned the Food Safety and Inspection Service, requesting the agency "clarify the labeling of processed meats." "Specifically, we ask that the agency cease requiring that such products be labeled 'Uncured,' and/or 'No Nitrate or Nitrite Added' when they have been processed using non-synthetic sources of nitrate and nitrite, such as celery powder, rather than traditional synthetic sources, such as sodium nitrite." The petition asserts that both "synthetic and non-synthetic nitrites and nitrates may cause cancer," and the petition coincided with the release of a Consumer Reports investigation purportedly finding that "consumers are confused by the 'No Nitrate or Nitrite Added' statements, which are currently accompanied by a fine-print disclaimer on product labels identifying the non-synthetic source of nitrates or nitrites." "We therefore urge the agency to stop requiring, and instead prohibit, the 'No Nitrate or Nitrite Added'…
Denmark has reportedly passed a law that will ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from cardboard and paper used for food packaging. "These substances represent such a health problem that we can no longer wait for the EU," Denmark's food minister is quoted as saying. Recycled paper may continue to be used if the PFAS compounds are separated from food with a barrier. PFAS compounds have come under scrutiny in both the United States and Europe as agencies research the effects of consuming the substances.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has conducted a study on how "use by" and "best by" dates on food products could be improved to reduce food waste. The agency examined actions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and concluded with the recommendation that "USDA and FDA develop a mechanism to facilitate coordination with relevant nonfederal stakeholders on actions related to date labels," according to the agency. "USDA and FDA agreed with our recommendation and are planning actions to implement the recommendation."
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Memet Beqiri had pleaded guilty to "a charge related to his meat processing business's falsification of numerous E. coli test results," according to a press release. Beqiri, owner and general manager of New England Meat Packing LLC, allegedly prepared and submitted falsified documents indicating that the company had sent carcass swabs and ground beef samples to a certified laboratory, which purportedly had found no E. coli. "In fact, none of the 52 carcass swabs and samples had been submitted or tested by the identified laboratory, or any other laboratory, and the 36 documents were fraudulently prepared using laboratory letterhead obtained from previous testing that New England Meat Packing had conducted with that laboratory," the press release states. The charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years; Beqiri will be sentenced in November 2019.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a public meeting to discuss the agency's "effort to modernize food standards of identity (SOI) and provide information about changes we could make to existing SOI, particularly changes that could be made across categories of standardized foods (i.e., horizontal changes), to provide flexibility for the development of healthier foods." The meeting will be held September 27, 2019, and comments on the subject will be accepted until November 12.
