The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has issued an October 24, 2011, memorandum calling for nationwide testing of pet food “to determine the prevalence of Salmonella” and remove contaminated samples from commerce. According to CVM, regulators are concerned about the transmission of “pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans and other animals,” as well as the risk that Salmonella-tainted pet food, pet treats and supplements for pets could infect consumers in their homes, where products “are likely to be directly handled or ingested by humans.” CVM has directed investigators to collect and submit non-canned pet food, treats and supplements for analysis, which aims to identify “the serotype, genetic fingerprint, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of each Salmonella found in samples.” The agency will also use these samples for “research purposes” and “providing surveillance information on microbes other than Salmonella.” “Salmonella-contaminated pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets…
Category Archives U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies
The American Public Health Association (APHA) has reportedly passed a resolution asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke salt’s status as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substance within one year. According to the resolution, which was unanimously approved during APHA’s 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., the revocation of salt’s GRAS status would pave the way for FDA regulation and “substantially improve the cardiovascular health of the American public.” Among other things, the resolution recommends that FDA (i) establish a schedule for food manufacturers and preparers to progressively lower sodium levels by 75 percent within the next 10 years; (ii) require front-of-package labels that clearly identify whether products contain high-, medium- or low-sodium levels; and (iii) require the food industry to use 2,300 milligrams (mg) as the current standard of calculating sodium daily values in processed foods and lower the daily values to 1,500 mg by 2017.…
U.S. Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have reportedly asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate claims that seafood sold in grocery stores, restaurants and markets is often mislabeled. According to the congressmen’s October 31, 2011, letter, two separate investigative reports used DNA testing to conclude that purveyors frequently sold seafood as more expensive or different varieties. In particular, The Boston Globe reported that 48 percent of fish sampled in the area were sold under the wrong name, while Consumer Reports estimated that more than one-fifth of the 190 pieces of seafood it tested in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York were “mislabeled as a different species of fish, incompletely labeled, or misidentified by employees.” The latter report also noted that all 10 of the “lemon soles” and 12 of the 22 “red snappers” purchased were not the species advertised. “Only four of the 14 types of fish…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the availability of guidance aimed at helping industry evaluate the safety of flood-affected crops for human consumption. According to FDA, growers are responsible for ensuring the safety of food affected by flood waters, which “may have been exposed to sewage, chemicals, heavy metals, pathogenic microorganisms, or other contaminants.” See Federal Register, October 24, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued industry guidance concerning the “administrative detention of human or animal food.” Providing information about FDA’s authority under the Food Safety and Modernization Act to hold adulterated or misbranded food and prevent it from reaching the marketplace, the guidance explains who can approve an administrative detention order, what food may be subject to detention, who receives a copy of the order, and the appeals process. See Federal Register, October 25, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently opened a docket pertaining to a petition filed by Philadelphia seeking to exempt from preemption a menu labeling ordinance that requires chain restaurants and retail food facilities in the city to provide calorie, fat and sodium information for the food and beverage products they sell. According to the petition, the ordinance meets three requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act allowing FDA to grant an exemption from preemption: the ordinance “was designed to address a particular local need for information which need is not met by the requirements” of federal labeling law, the exemption from preemption “would not unduly burden interstate commerce,” and the exemption “would not cause any food to be in violation of any applicable requirement under federal law.” Philadelphia contends that while Congress required uniformity in chain restaurant menu labeling as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced changes to its bottled water quality standard “by establishing an allowable level for the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP).” Effective April 16, 2012, the final rule establishes “in § 165.110(b)(4)(iii)(C) (21 CFR 165.110(b)(4)(iii)(C)), which includes allowable levels for pesticides and other synthetic organic chemicals, an allowable level for DEHP at 0.006 mg/L.” It also requires manufacturers to monitor their products “for DEHP at least once each year under the current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations” and to monitor their source water “as often as necessary, but at least once every year unless they meet the criteria for source water monitoring exemptions under the CGMP.” According to FDA, the amended rule brings bottled water standards in line with those set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public drinking water. The two comments opposing the rule change evidently did not provide enough evidence to challenge…
Several consumer advocacy organizations have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) based on a report that “identifies, analyzes, and documents a set of digital marketing practices that pose particular threats to children and youth, especially when used to promote foods that are high in fat, sugars, and salt, which are known to contribute to child and adolescent obesity.” The complaint specifically targets PepsiCo and Frito-Lay, focusing on promotions for Doritos®. According to the complainants, “Frito-Lay has infiltrated the lives of teens by developing covert advertising campaigns centered on things teens love—video games, music, horror, sports, contests, and social networking.” They further contend that (i) “Frito-Lay disguises its marketing campaigns as entertaining video games, concerts, and other immersive forms of entertainment, thus making it more difficult for teens to recognize them as marketing and to be skeptical about the messages they present”; (ii) “Frito-Lay claims to protect teens’…
The U.S. Senate has reportedly adopted an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2012 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from reducing the amount of potatoes and other starches in school meals. According to Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who authored the bipartisan measure, USDA earlier this year “proposed a rule that would limit servings of a certain category of vegetables that includes white potatoes, green peas, lima beans, and corn, to a total of one-cup per week in the National School Lunch Program,” while also prohibiting “this category of vegetables from the School Breakfast Program altogether.” The amendment blocks USDA from eliminating these vegetables but keeps the requirement “that school meals be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” As a result, USDA and schools will reportedly retain the flexibility to regulate cooking methods and make “reasonable and suitable substitutions among affordable fresh…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has submitted a proposed information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct an experimental study designed to evaluate the public’s risk perceptions after a foodborne-illness-related recall. Produce growers, food retailers and consumers will be asked to participate in the study “to help FDA better understand whether the magnitude and duration of the decline in commodity consumption following food recalls can be partly explained by grower and retailer speculations and projections about consumers’ attitudes.” Using a hypothetical fresh spinach recall, the study will test whether “‘attribution error’—the tendency people have of overestimating others’ negative response to situations compared to their own response”—contributes to unnecessarily prolonging the economic effects of a food recall. The study will involve 900 participants (180 growers, 180 retailers and 540 consumers) assigned to either an ‘‘anger’’ scenario, ‘‘fear’’ scenario or ‘‘control’’ scenario. After reading a news article…
