The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the comment periods on two proposed rules related to foodborne illness prevention and produce safety that appeared in the Federal Register on January 16, 2013. In response to a request for a 90-day extension, the agency has increased until May 16, 2013, the comment periods for the proposed rules titled “Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food” and ‘‘Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption.” Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the two new rules would (i) require both foreign and domestic food manufacturers “to develop a formal plan for preventing their food products from causing foodborne illness,” and (ii) establish “science- and risk-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables.” Additional details about the rules appear in Issue 466 of this Update. See Federal…
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has proposed amending the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances to change annotations pertaining to the use of peracetic acid in organic crop production and the use of potassium hydroxide, silicon dioxide and betacarotene extract color in organic handling. Following the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board, AMS has also proposed removing non-organic annatto extract color from the list of approved substances for organic handling. In particular, AMS has requested comments that (i) “identify any formulated hydrogen peroxide products labeled for agriculture use that contain more than 5% peracetic acid,” and (ii) “describe whether product reformulation will be necessary to comply with the proposed amendment for silicon dioxide at section 205.605(b) and the proposed removal of annatto extract color from section 206.606.” The agency has requested comments on the proposed amendments by March 7, 2013. See Federal Register, February 5,…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed new rules that would regulate the nutritional content of snacks, soft drinks and meals sold in school cafeterias, vending machines and snack bars. According to a USDA news release, the “Smart Snacks in School” proposal draws upon “recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, existing voluntary standards already implemented by thousands of schools around the country, and healthy food and beverage offerings already available in the marketplace.” Required under the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, the new rules are part of the government’s efforts to combat childhood obesity by establishing nutrition standards for all food sold in schools—not just federally subsidized school breakfasts and lunches. “Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Good nutrition lays the groundwork…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced an April 17, 2013, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions for discussion during the 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on May 14–17. Agenda items include (i) implementation of the World Health Organization global strategy on diet, physical activity and health, including a proposed draft revision of the “Guidelines on Nutrition and Health Claims concerning Non-Addition of Sodium Salts”; (ii) guidelines for the production, processing, labeling, and marketing of organically produced foods, including use of ethylene as a sprouting inhibitor for onions and potatoes, and organic aquaculture; (iii) date marking; and (iv) the labeling of food derived from crops biofortified by natural selection. See…
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has responded to a January 25, 2013, Federal Register notice describing a “new” Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) method of conducting “ongoing equivalence verifications of the regulatory systems of countries that export meat, poultry, or processed egg products to the United States.” According to DeLauro’s letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, “it seems that FSIS fundamentally changed the process used to assess ongoing equivalency with our trade partners without publishing a single public notice in the Federal Register on the revisions or seeking public comment on the proposed changes. It appears that the agency has been implementing and refining these changes for several years.” She was particularly disturbed that FSIS has failed to disclose these changes in budgetary justification documents submitted to Congress since 2009. DeLauro also claimed in the letter that FSIS has exhibited “indifference to the advisory committees” that…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a February 5, 2013, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions for discussion during the 23rd Session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Langkawi, Malaysia, on February 25-March 1, 2013. Agenda items include a proposed draft standard for fish oils, proposed draft amendment to parameters for rice bran oil in the standard for named vegetable oils, discussion paper on the revision of the limit for campesterol in the Codex standard for olive oils and olive pomace oils, and discussion paper on cold-pressed oils. See Federal Register, January 23, 2013.
Russian health regulators have announced a new regulation that will require imported meat to undergo testing for and be certified free of ractopamine, a hormone that has reportedly been linked to health concerns. The additive allegedly promotes animal growth and leaner meat and is added to some animal feed in the United States. According to news sources, because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no mechanism in place certifying meat as “ractopamine free,” the Russian requirement could effectively halt U.S. pork and beef exports to the country, profoundly affecting the more than $500 million market. Some industry analysts reportedly see the move as retaliation for American legislation punishing Russian officials linked to alleged human rights violations. In a recent press release, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated, “The United States is very concerned that Russia has taken these actions, which appear to be inconsistent with its obligations as a…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has requested an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the regulations for the introduction of organisms and products altered or produced through genetic engineering. The regulations set forth “the permit application requirements and the notification procedures for the importation, interstate movement, or release into the environment of a regulated article and necessitate certain information and recordkeeping requirements, including APHIS issued permits, applicants’ field testing records, and the submission of protocols to ensure compliance.” APHIS is asking the Office of Management and Budget to approve its use of these information collection activities for an additional three years. The agency will consider comments received by February 11, 2013. See Federal Register, December 11, 2012.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that, as of February 8, 2013, it will require producers of non-intact raw beef and all ready-to-eat products containing meat and poultry to hold shipments until they pass agency testing for foodborne pathogens. FSIS announced its plan to implement this policy in April 2011. In the past, FSIS’s practice has apparently been “to allow products tested for adulterants to bear the mark of inspection, and to enter commerce, even when test results have not been received.” FSIS had asked, but not required, official establishments to maintain control of products tested for adulterants pending test results. According to FSIS, “because establishments, including official import inspection establishments, were not consistently maintaining control of product, despite FSIS’s request that they do so, adulterated product was entering commerce.” FSIS has reportedly stated that if the new requirement had been in place…
Organic growers and food safety advocates, including the National Organic Coalition (NOC), have condemned recommendations contained in the final report of the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21), a group appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address transgenic contamination of organic and non-genetically engineered (GE) crops. GE crops make up the majority of corn and soybeans produced in the United States. According to news sources, of particular concern in the report is the recommendation that organic and non-GE conventional farmers pay to self-insure themselves against unwanted GE contamination. In a press release NOC stated that “This proposal allows USDA and the agricultural biotechnology industry to abdicate responsibility for preventing GE contamination while making the victims of GE pollution pay for damages resulting from transgenic contamination.” “The AC21 report takes responsibility for GE contamination prevention out of the hands of USDA and the biotech industry…
