The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have announced a January 13, 2015, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss draft U.S. positions for consideration during the 24th Session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils slated for February 9-13 in Melaka, Malaysia. Agenda items at the January meeting include a proposed draft standard for fish oils and discussion papers focusing on (i) cold pressed oils and (ii) amended standards for sunflower seed oils and high oleic soybean oil. See Federal Register, November 19, 2014. Issue 546
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that KK179 alfalfa, a genetically engineered (GE) crop that was created “to express reduced levels of guaiacyl lignin, a major subunit component of total lignin that slows the digestion of cellulose in livestock, as compared to conventional alfalfa at the same stage of growth,” is unlikely to constitute a plant pest, thus granting Monsanto Co. and Forage Genetics International’s petition for nonregulated status. APHIS found no significant impact following several opportunities for public comment on the petition and the preparation of an environmental assessment. See Federal Register, November 10, 2014. Issue 545
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has approved for commercial planting a new variety of potato genetically engineered (GE) for low acrylamide and reduced black spot bruise. The potatoes in question use a technique known as RNA interference to silence genes involved in bruising and the production of acrylamide, which USDA defines as “a human neurotoxicant and potential carcinogen that may form in potatoes and other starchy foods under certain cooking conditions.” Submitted by J. R. Simplot Co., the petition for Innate™ potatoes (E12, E24, F37, J3, J55, J78, G11, H37, and H50) underwent plant and environmental risk assessments as well as a review period that generated more than 40,000 public comments—many of them identical raising concerns about “potential effects on conventional potato production, export markets, and plant fitness.” After reviewing all available data, APHIS issued a final environmental assessment with a finding…
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the requests of meat-producer interests to rehear arguments in a case challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules as a violation of First Amendment rights. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir., order entered October 31, 2014). Under the regulations, amended in May 2013, retailers of “muscle cuts” are required to list on product labels the countries of origin and production as to each step of production—born, raised or slaughtered. Additional details about the en banc ruling upholding the regulations appear in Issue 532 of this Update. USDA amended the rules to address an adverse World Trade Organization (WTO) determination that they discriminated against Canadian and Mexican livestock producers. The effort was unsuccessful, as WTO again ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico. Information about that decision appears in Issue 542 of this Update. Issue 544
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued a report related to its review of the federal government’s oversight of pesticide residues in food. More specifically, the report discusses the congressional watchdog’s analysis of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service and USDA Agricultural Marketing Service pesticide residue data, the data’s reliability, and the agencies’ methods for sampling foods for testing. Among other things, GAO recommends improvements in FDA’s methodology and disclosure of the limitations in both agencies’ monitoring and data collection efforts. Issue 544
A California state court has approved the settlement of a putative class action alleging that Barney’s Worldwide Inc., owner of the Barney’s Beanery restaurant chain, falsely advertised its beef as Kobe beef when a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ban on the import of beef from Kobe, Japan, was in effect. Nalbantian v. Barney’s Worldwide Inc., No. BC493145 (Cal. Super. Ct., Cty. of Los Angeles, approval entered October 23, 2014). The plaintiff had alleged that Barney’s advertised its menu as containing Kobe beef—which the plaintiff said indicates that the beef comes from Wagyu-breed cattle raised and slaughtered in Kobe, Japan—despite a USDA ban imposed due to fears of disease in May 2010. Under the settlement, the restaurant chain will use “Kobe beef” on its menu only if it is listed as “American Kobe beef” and will pay up to $220,000 in $10 gift certificates to any class member who submits a claim…
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has issued a report challenging the proposed organic aquaculture production regulations under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Titled Like Water and Oil: Ocean-Based Fish Farming and Organic Don’t Mix, the report argues that USDA should reject proposed standards that would allegedly dilute the value of organic certification by allowing the agency’s seal to appear on fish products sourced from ocean-based farms. In addition to citing the high number of fish escapes reported in the previous two decades, CFS claims that “open-ocean fish farms can never be organic,” partly because synthetic chemicals prohibited under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) are ubiquitous in the marine environment. The group also alleges that open-ocean farming not only alters the natural behavior of migratory fish in violation of OFPA, but harms wild fisheries by using wild-caught fish as a feed source. “It’s mind-boggling to think that…
The Pew Charitable Trusts and Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have released an October 2014 report urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reevaluate its current meat and poultry inspection system. Seeking to identify innovations that could better protect consumers, Meat and Poultry Inspection 2.0 compares U.S. regulations to those used in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. It also examines scientific assessments undertaken by the U.K. Food Standards Agency and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as part of their efforts to modernize food safety regulations. “Modernizing government inspection of meat and poultry plants would focus resources on the food safety risks posed by bacteria and other microbiological and chemical hazards, and away from some human and animal diseases, such as tuberculosis and brucellosis, that have been successfully controlled in most developed countries,” argues the report. “However, out of a concern that modernizing government…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report assessing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) current approach to Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken and turkey products and recommending that the agriculture secretary direct the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to take steps to improve the approach. The report reviews past USDA action on these pathogens, including the establishment of standards limiting Campylobacter contamination and the tightening of existing Salmonella contamination standards. GAO recommended that the agriculture secretary direct FSIS to develop Salmonella and Campylobacter performance measures to monitor whether efforts to bring processing plants into compliance with the poultry products standards are meeting the agency’s goals. GAO also recommended that effectiveness measures be included in future revisions of compliance guidelines for controlling the pathogens. According to the report, USDA agrees with the recommendations. Issue 542
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have scheduled a meeting of the 14-member committee charged with developing the federal government’s “2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” for November 7, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. The meeting is accessible to the public by Webcast only and registration is required to view the proceedings. Aimed at promoting consumption of foods and beverages that assist in maintaining a healthy weight and preventing disease, the guidelines were first issued in 1980, are revised every five years and provide the basis for federal food and nutrition policy and education efforts. The next iteration of the guidelines will be published during fall 2015. Information about the November 7 meeting agenda, Webcast registration and the committee’s requests for written comments may be found at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s website. See Federal Register, October 20,…
