The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued a final rule revising the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances with regard to the use of tetracycline, formic acid and attapulgite during the production and processing of organic crops and food ingredients. According to NOP, the most recent iteration of the National List permitted the use of tetracycline “for fire blight control only” in apple, pear and other organic fruit crops until October 21, 2012. The final rule has amended the National List to specify that the substance can be used to control fire blight in apple and pear crops only and to extend the expiration date until October 12, 2014. In addition, NOP has added formic acid to the National List “solely for use as a pesticide within honeybee colonies” to suppress infestations of Varroa mites and approved attapulgite, a substance generally regarded as safe by the…
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets are “no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms.” According to the agency, the crop, which is engineered to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate and is known as “Roundup Ready®, is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, in fact, is not a plant pest.” Thus, the crop is no longer subject to federal GE regulation. The determination ends a lengthy dispute that began when organic farmers claimed that APHIS failed, when deregulating the crop in 2005, to properly consider the crop’s propensity to cross-pollinate nearby fields of conventional sugar beets and the likelihood that herbicide resistant weeds would also result from planting the GE crop. A federal court agreed and ordered the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS).…
FDA has issued a request for comments on a proposed information collection that will add the manufacturers of certain beers as respondents to its labeling regulations and seeks Office of Management and Budget approval of allergen labeling for these beers. The agency explains that after the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau determined that certain beers, which are made from substitutes for malted barley, such as sorghum, rice or wheat, do not meet the definition of “malt beverage” and are thus not subject to its regulations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prepared draft guidance to assist these manufacturers in complying with its labeling regulations. On the basis of the labeling regulations discussed in the guidance, the agency provides estimates of the average burden per disclosure for each regulation— that is, “12 respondents will each label 2 products annually, for a total of 24 labels” and “the manufacturers will…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has posted on its website a report from the 35th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission that convened in Rome earlier in July 2012. In addition to adopting a number of standards on food additives, food hygiene guidelines, maximum levels of melamine for liquid infant formula, and maximum pesticide residue levels, the Commission agreed to update a scientific review of the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) to stimulate milk production in dairy cows. Maximum residue levels have been stalled at Step 8 since 1995, and debate over the issue apparently continues. Those opposed to the use of rBST cited animal health, welfare and possible anti-microbial resistance, while the United States and others contend that these issues exceed the Codex’s scope, the science is sufficient and no food safety issues remain.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reportedly agreed to fund produce safety inspections through the end of 2012 despite the government’s failure to include the agency’s Microbiological Data Program (MDP) in next year’s budgets. According to media sources, neither the Obama administration nor Congress allocated resources for the 11-year-old program, which coordinates with local officials to screen alfalfa sprouts, cantaloupe, cilantro, hot peppers, lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes for pathogens such as E. coli (STEC), E. coli 0157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella. Responsible for 30 recalls since 2009, the MDP has garnered praise from consumer groups that have since decried its imminent demise while lambasting public officials for dispensing with the $5 million needed to keep the program running. “It’s a small sum of money in the government sense,” David Plunkett, senior staff attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told reporters. “For the government, it’s not…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a July 6, 2012, notice announcing its decision to restructure its National Residue Program to permit more extensive compound testing of meat, poultry and egg products. According to FSIS, the revamped program aims to reduce the number of samples analyzed while allowing the agency to assess more compounds per sample using improved multi-residue methods. In particular, these methods will enable FSIS to screen for pesticides and environmental contaminants as well as legal and illegal veterinary drugs such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and growth promoters. “Under the new system, one sample may be tested for as many as 55 pesticide chemicals, 9 kinds of antibiotics, various metals, and eventually more than 50 other chemicals,” explained the agency in a July 2 press release, which noted that the previous program required FSIS to collect one sample per animal and…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has extended until June 14, 2012, the comment period for a proposed rule that would amend regulations governing the importation of live bovines and other animal products with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Under the proposed rule, APHIS would adopt World Organization for Animal Health criteria that identify a country’s BSE risks as negligible, controlled or undetermined, bringing U.S. import regulations in line with international health standards. APHIS has pushed back the deadline to allow “interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.” Additional details about the proposed rule appear in Issue 432 of this Update.
A coalition of advocacy organizations has reportedly agreed to dismiss as moot its lawsuit seeking an order requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to respond to its 2006 petition asking the agency to regulate products containing nanomaterials. Information about the lawsuit appears in Issue 422 of this Update. The organizations, including Food and Water Watch and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, apparently indicated that while the agency has rejected some of their key proposals, FDA has formally responded to the petition. FDA has said that it will not regulate nanomaterials as new substances, but will evaluate them based on their effects on foods, drugs and cosmetics. See Capital Press, May 18, 2012.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a notice requiring inspectors to make establishments aware of how to comply with a May 8, 2012, final rule on misbranded meat and poultry. The rule requires establishments to prepare and maintain recall procedures, notify FSIS within 24 hours when adulterated or misbranded meat and poultry products that could harm consumers have entered the marketplace and document their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system food safety plans. The final rule was discussed in Issue 439 of this Update.
A coalition of animal rights organizations has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in federal court, alleging that the agency has violated the Poultry Products Inspection Act by allowing foie gras to be sold to consumers. Animal Legal Defense Fund v. USDA, No. __ (C.D. Cal., filed May 9, 2012). According to the plaintiffs, “the USDA is responsible for condemning all poultry products that come from diseased birds. Foie gras consists of the pathologically diseased livers of ducks who are force-fed massive amounts of grain, inducing the disease of hepatic lipidosis, which causes their livers to swell to ten times their normal size.” The organizations have petitioned the agency in the past to require warning labels that would state “NOTICE: Foie gras products are derived from diseased birds.” And they now cite a recent study that purportedly linked the consumption of foie gras to secondary…
