The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are hosting a February 24, 2015, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to update stakeholders and solicit input about the agencies’ collaborative initiatives to improve foodborne illness source attribution. The discussion will target the agencies’ effort to develop a single approach to creating harmonized foodborne illness source attribution estimates from outbreak data for Salmonella, E. coli O157, Listeria, and Campylobacter. Those interested in attending the meeting should register online by February 17. See Federal Register, January 28, 2015. Issue 553
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed new standards that aim to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in “the poultry items that Americans most often purchase,” including ground chicken and turkey products as well as raw chicken breasts, legs and wings, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The proposed standards would require routine sampling throughout the year rather than infrequent sampling on consecutive days, and the allowed amounts of Salmonella in chicken parts, ground chicken and ground turkey would be lowered substantially. A USDA press release notes that the Food Safety and Inspection Service implemented standards for whole chickens in 1996, but “has since learned that Salmonella levels increase as chicken is further processed into parts.” See USDA News Release, January 21, 2015. Issue 552
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is soliciting comments on proposed amendments to the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). The 1967 law requires that certain products carry labels with identifying information such as the source, content and quantity and specifically excludes—among other categories—meat products, poultry and alcohol beverages. FTC sought comments on the existing rules in March 2014 and used some of the suggested changes in the proposed amendments, which include (i) “modernizing the place-of-business listing requirement to incorporate online resources”; (ii) “eliminating obsolete references to commodities advertised using the terms ‘cents off,’ ‘introductory offer,’ and ‘economy size’”; and (iii) incorporating “a more comprehensive metric chart.” Comments must be received by March 30, 2015. See FTC News Release, January 22, 2015. Issue 552
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Service has extended until February 17, 2015, the comment period for a proposed rule that would expand assessment exemptions for commodity promotion activities “to cover all ‘organic’ and ‘100 percent organic’ products certified under the National Organic Program regardless of whether the person requesting the exemption also produces, handles, or imports conventional or nonorganic products.” Under the current rule, the exemption applies only to those who exclusively produce and market products certified as 100 percent organic. Additional details about the original notice appear in Issue 549 of this Update. See Federal Register, January 15, 2015. Issue 551
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed rule establishing science-based standards for the growing, harvesting, packing and holding of produce for human consumption. The draft EIS reportedly identifies the following rule provisions as potentially significant to the human environment and offers alternatives for consideration: (i) standards directed to agricultural water, (ii) standards directed to biological soil amendments (BSA) of animal origin, (iii) standards directed to domesticated and wild animals, and (iv) general provisions. The agency has also announced a February 10, 2015, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss the draft EIS. See Federal Register, January 14, 2015. Issue 551
According to a January 1, 2015, New York Times article by Andrew Pollack, the advent of new technologies has created a loophole in federal regulations for companies looking to market genetically-engineered (GE) crops. Noting that new techniques do not involve the transfer of genetic material from other species, use bacterium to insert foreign materials or rely on viruses to manipulate plant DNA, Pollack writes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lacks the authority to regulate these GE crops under its current mandate to protect against plant pests, including insects or pathogens. Although consumer watchdogs have warned that all GE crops could have unforeseen ecological consequences, proponents have argued that easing regulatory burdens will lower barriers to market entry and allow smaller companies to participate in product development. “Regulators around the world are now grappling with whether these techniques are even considered genetic engineering and how, if at all, they…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has published draft guidance clarifying the agency’s interpretation of regulations that require organic operations to “maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation, including soil and water quality.” Intended for accredited certifying agents and certified operations, the guidance provides examples of production practices that support the principles of natural resource and biodiversity conservation. It also describes (i) “the certified organic operator’s responsibility to select, carry out, and record production practices that ‘maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation’”; (ii) “the accredited certifying agent’s responsibility to verify operator compliance with this requirement”; and (ii) “how domestic organic operations that participate in a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) program and the NOP can reduce their paperwork burdens.” The agency will accept comments on the draft guidance until February 27, 2015. See Federal Register, December 29, 2014. Issue 550
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will host a January 13-14, 2015, public meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) at the Patriot Plaza III building in Washington, D.C. Topics of discussion at the meeting will include (i) FSIS’s identification and management of chemical hazards within the National Residue Program (i.e., contaminants in meat, poultry and egg products); and (ii) the Economic Research Service’s Cost Calculation Model, which provides federal agencies with peer-reviewed estimates of the costs of foodborne illness that can be used to evaluate the effects of federal regulation and inform policy considerations. See Federal Register, December 24, 2014. Issue 550
Responding to objections submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed its decision to allow the use of advantame as a non-nutritive sweetener and flavor enhancer in foods intended for human consumption. FDA apparently received 12 responses to its May 21, 2014, final rule on advantame, but only NRDC’s submission met the requirements for agency consideration. In particular, NRDC cited five animal studies allegedly showing that aspartame affects the hypothalamus, arguing that aspartame and advantame are “structurally related.” But FDA disagreed with this reasoning, noting that although advantame is structurally related to aspartame, the two substances are “chemically different and metabolized differently in the human body.” As a result, the agency did not consider the health effects of aspartame when reviewing the toxicological data for advantame. As the agency concluded, “NRDC’s objection to the advantame final rule does not provide any…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule that would allow anyone producing, handling, marketing, or importing certified organic products to be exempt from paying the assessments associated with commodity promotion activities like advertising. The exemption would cover all “organic” and “100 percent organic” products certified under the National Organic Program. The current rule allows the exemption to apply only to those who exclusively produce and market products certified as 100 percent organic, but the proposed rule would broaden application to include all organic products regardless of whether the person or company imports or handles nonorganic products as well. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by January 15, 2015. See Federal Register, December 16, 2014. Issue 549
