The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced three public meetings to explain the purpose of the Reportable Food Registry, how it will work and the responsibilities of those required to submit reports. The registry, which requires reports to be filed through an FDA Internet portal if there is reason to believe that adulterated food or feed will cause “serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals,” is set to be implemented September 8, 2009. The meeting dates are July 23, August 5 and 25, 2009. See Federal Register, June 26, 2009.
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) created by President Barack Obama (D) has unveiled a “new, public health-based approach to food safety based on three core principles: prioritizing prevention; strengthening surveillance and enforcement; and improving response and recovery,” according to a July 7, 2009, White House press release. Chaired by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, FSWG has set in motion several new strategies to advance these principles, including plans to (i) tighten standards governing the safety of eggs, poultry and turkey; (ii) increase inspections at beef facilities; (iii) issue new industry guidance for leafy greens, melons and tomatoes; (iv) build a trackback and response system incorporating “clearer industry guidance, a new unified command system and improved use of technology to deliver individual food safety alerts to consumers”; and (v) strengthen the organization of federal food safety functions. FSWG…
While the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers comments submitted by stakeholders to its proposed advertising endorsement guideline amendments, industry and blogging interests have reportedly expressed concerns about their ambiguity and suggested that voluntary ethical standards would best police the practice of “social media marketing.” The FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, last updated in 1980, if applied to bloggers who are paid to endorse products or services, would require bloggers to substantiate their product performance claims without specifying the proof needed to satisfy the claim. The amended guidance would also require disclosure of compensation arrangements, ranging from product coupons and cash payments to free products or services and pay-per-click links to sites that sell the product. According to a news source, if the guideline amendments are adopted later in 2009, violators could face FTC stop orders, restitution to customers or civil penalties. See The Associated Press, June…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have agreed to recognize each other’s organic certifications. As of June 30, 2009, Canada will have national organic standards in place that have been determined to be the equivalent of U.S. National Organic Program requirements. Thus, products meeting U.S. standards can be sold as organic in Canada, and vice versa. The only exception is for products from fields in the United States treated with sodium nitrate; such crops cannot be sold in Canada as organic. The agreement, however, does away with the need for a three-year transition period from sodium nitrate use. According to USDA, “more than 80 percent of Canada’s organic consumption comes from imports, and approximately 75 percent of those imports come from the United States.” The value of the total market for organic products in Canada apparently ranges from $2.1 to $2.6 billion. U.S. Trade…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that emergency processing is underway for the draft guidance titled “Questions and Answers Regarding the Reportable Food Registry as Established by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.” When finalized, the guidance will assist industry in complying with the Reportable Food Registry requirements prescribed by the Act, which required FDA to establish within one year of enactment an electronic portal to facilitate reporting of adulterated foods. FDA has delayed until September 8, 2009, implementation of the registry to consider comments and to allow further testing of the electronic portal for reportable foods. Written comments are requested by July 16, 2009. FDA has requested approval of the emergency processing by August 17, 2009. See Federal Register, June 16, 2009.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the availability of draft industry guidance titled “Questions and Answers Regarding the Reportable Food Registry as Established by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.” The Food Administration Amendments Act of 2007 required FDA to establish within one year of enactment an electronic portal to facilitate the reporting of adulterated foods. FDA has now delayed until September 8, 2009, implementation of the registry “to consider any comments received on the draft guidance and through the agency’s planned outreach initiatives, and to allow for further testing of the electronic portal for reportable foods.” In the interim, the agency has encouraged industry to continue reporting of adulterated foods through existing channels, such as the relevant FDA district office. See Federal Register, June 11, 2009.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a June 23, 2009, public meeting to present the background, approach, scope, and data needed for a recently initiated interagency risk assessment of Listeria in some ready-to-eat foods that are sliced, prepared or packaged in retail facilities. Several agencies, including the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), are conducting the risk assessment to determine the effects that current practices and potential interventions to prevent Listeria have on public health. See Federal Register, June 9, 2009.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has apparently resurrected a program that tracks pesticide use on food crops. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts pesticide-use surveys, which reportedly provide the only free, publicly available data on the agricultural chemicals applied to crops. Government agencies, environmental groups and academic scientists use the data to evaluate the human health and environmental risks posed by pesticides, and compare the amount of pesticides applied to genetically engineered (GE) versus conventional crops. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and other groups recently spearheaded a letter-writing campaign urging USDA to restore the program. NASS plans to gather data on pesticide applications to fruit and nut crops in fall 2009. If Congress approves the full funding specified in President Barack Obama’s (D) 2010 budget, the agency will resume data collection for vegetables, major row crops and pesticides applied to crops after harvest. See Food & Environment…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reverse a policy adopted during the Bush administration that precludes states from using federal nutrition education funds to discourage the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. In a June 12, 2009, letter, CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson, Director of Legal Affairs Bruce Silverglade and Senior Staff Attorney Ilene Ringel Heller take issue with a 2003 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) memorandum telling state officials that they could not use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds to disparage or criticize any food. It was apparently issued after Maine launched an ad campaign encouraging residents to reduce their soda consumption. According to CSPI, this policy has been continued under the new administration, appearing in recent SNAP education guidance materials that state, “SNAP-Ed funds may not be used to convey negative written, visual, or verbal expressions about specific foods,…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced its approval of a final consent order in its challenge to the merger of Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Wild Oats Markets, Inc. Under the agreement, Whole Foods will sell 32 of its supermarkets and give up unrestricted rights to the “Wild Oats” brand. When the agreement was announced in March 2009, FTC Chair Jon Leibowitz claimed, “As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods.” Whole Foods and Wild Oats completed their merger before an appeals court finally agreed with the FTC that the merger could have anti-competitive effects and allowed it to move forward with administrative proceedings against the company. Thus, it was unclear until the consent order was filed what remedies could be ordered if the FTC proved its case. See FTC Press Release, May 29, 2009.
