The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold a public workshop to consider "Made in USA" product claims on September 26, 2019. In advance, FTC is requesting comments on several questions, including: (i) "What rationales underlie consumer preferences for products made in USA?"; (ii) "When consumers see product advertisements or labels stating or implying that products are 'Made in USA' or the equivalent, what amount of U.S. parts and labor do they assume are in the products?"; and (iii) "Do firms that advertise their products as 'Made in USA' charge higher prices than their competitors whose products are not advertised in this way?"
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the first warning letter enforcing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Final Rule on Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals. The letter targeted a company importing tahini that was recalled after purportedly causing a Salmonella outbreak. "Moving forward, the FDA will take more steps to ensure compliance with FSVP, including reinspecting importers that had deficiencies in previous inspections and by acting immediately when FSVP deficiencies are found that pose an imminent public health risk," the agency's announcement stated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling has released guidance providing "step-by-step instructions to manufacturers of retail food products marketed in the United States on how they may convert the previous units of measure for certain nutrients to the new units in the updated Nutrition Facts label." The guidance also "provides information that can help manufacturers understand and comply with relevant labeling requirements," according to the agency's announcement.
Illinois has passed a law requiring businesses to indicate on food labels whether a product contains sesame. The amended law deems a food misbranded if "it contains sesame, is offered for sale in package form but not for immediate consumption, and the label does not include sesame." The state representative who sponsored the legislation told the NPR affiliate that his daughter is allergic to sesame and has received incorrect answers when inquiring about the ingredient at restaurants. “If they see us do it, the hope is that everyone does it,” he reportedly told WILL. “I hope that the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)] and other states will follow suit." FDA and the U.K. Food Standards Agency have opened investigations into the prevalence of sesame as an allergen in prepared food products, while Canada, the European Union, Australia and Israel have reportedly enacted regulations requiring sesame labeling.
California regulators have reportedly indicated that they will ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos following the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) refusal to ban the substance. “We have to step into the void and take action where the federal government has failed to do so,” the head of the state's environmental agency reportedly told The Los Angeles Times. The announcement also follows a lawsuit filed by California and five other states challenging EPA's decision. In Europe, the approval period for chlorpyrifos ends in January 2020, and the European Food Safety Authority has indicated—without issuing a formal decision—that it has "identified concerns about possible genotoxic effects as well as neurological effects during development, supported by epidemiological data indicating effects in children," according to a press release. "This means that no safe exposure level—or toxicological reference value—can be set for the substance."
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Phillip Carawan pleaded guilty to falsely labeling crabmeat worth $4 million as a product of the United States despite being imported. Carawan and his company apparently could not meet customer demand and imported foreign crabmeat to cover orders for U.S.-produced crabmeat. “Seafood mislabeling is consumer fraud that undermines efforts of hardworking, honest fisherman and the free market by devaluing the price of domestic seafood,” the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina said in a DOJ press release. “In this case, the fraudulent scheme artificially deflated the cost of domestic blue crab and gave Carawan an unacceptable economic advantage over law-abiding competitors.”
U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) have introduced the Food Date Labeling Act, which aims to "end consumer confusion around food date labeling and ensure Americans do not throw out perfectly good food," according to a press release. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. The proposed law would establish "Best if Used By" to communicate that the quality may decline following the listed date, while "Use By" would communicate that a product should not be consumed after the listed date. "Food labeling is important for consumer education, but the current practice is confusing and outdated. This bill takes a step toward reducing food waste by helping consumers understand the meaning behind date labels," Newhouse is quoted as saying. "The legislation also helps restaurants and grocery stores bridge the gap when it comes to donating food to shelters, food banks and other…
In testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee, Under Secretary of Agriculture Greg Ibach suggested that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could potentially be used in the production of organic foods eventually. "As the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, right now GMO or transgenics are not eligible to be in the Organic Program, but we've seen new technology evolve that includes gene editing that accomplishes things in shorter periods of time that can be done through a natural breeding process," Ibach stated. "I think there is the opportunity to open the discussion to consider whether it is appropriate for some of these new technologies that include gene editing to be eligible to be used to enhance organic production and to have resistant varieties—drought-resistant, disease-resistant varieties as well as higher-yielding varieties—available." Meanwhile, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released guidance on how human dietary exposure to newly expressed proteins in…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that soy leghemoglobin has been approved for use "as a color additive in ground beef analogue products" following a petition submitted by Impossible Foods. The announcement notes that the agency previously found soy leghemoglobin to be generally recognized as safe as a flavor additive. "FDA concurs with the petitioner that the genetic modifications made to generate the non-toxigenic and non-pathogenic production strain are well-characterized and the production process conforms to good manufacturing practice," the announcement states. "In addition to specification limits for lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, we are requiring a specification for the minimum purity of soy leghemoglobin protein as a percent of the total protein in the color additive." The rule takes effect September 4, 2019, and objections can be filed until September 3.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning letter to Curaleaf Inc. for "illegally selling unapproved products containing cannabidiol (CBD) online with unsubstantiated claims that the products treat cancer, Alzheimer's disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety." FDA cites the company's website and social media accounts to assert that Curaleaf's marketing establishes its products—including "Bido CBD for Pets"—as drugs or animal drugs because the products are portrayed as able to help alleviate anxiety and fear, among other purported benefits. The agency also indicated that it will update the public on its progress towards creating a CBD regulatory framework by fall 2019. "We understand this is an important national issue with public health impact and of interest to American hemp farmers and many other stakeholders. The agency has a well-established pathway for drug development and drug approvals, and we remain committed to evaluating the agency’s regulatory policies related…
