The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued a final rule extending the use of methionine in organic poultry production until October 1, 2012. Effective March 15, 2011, the rule amends the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances according to the recommendations of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which governs the use of synthetic and non-synthetic substances in organic processing and production. A dietary supplement, methionine “is classified as an essential amino acid because it cannot be biologically produced by poultry and is necessary to maintain vitality.” In 2009, the Methionine Task Force filed a petition requesting a five-year extension on the allowance for synthetic methionine, partly because wholly natural sources of the supplement are not available. NOSB ultimately recommended that, at first, “the amount of synthetic methionine per ton of feed be limited to 4 pounds for laying chickens, 5 pounds for broiler chickens,…
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced an April 26-29, 2011, public meeting of its National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which will review recommendations pertaining to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Under the Organic Foods Production Act, the list governs the synthetic substances that may be used, and the nonsynthetic substances that cannot be used, in organic production and handling operations. NOSB will consider exemptions and prohibitions for a variety of substances scheduled for sunset review, including ethanol, tetracycline, nickel, sodium nitrate, and newspaper and other recycled papers. It will also discuss animal handling, transit and slaughter recommendations, as well as other NOSB policy and procedure changes. The agency will accept pre-registration for public comments before April 10, 2011. See Federal Register, March 4, 2011.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a March 2011 report identifying 34 areas, including agriculture, “where agencies, offices, or initiatives have similar or overlapping objectives or provide similar services to the same populations; or where government missions are fragmented across multiple agencies.” Commissioned by Congress, this first annual report also summarizes 47 areas where lawmakers or regulators could further reduce the cost of government. These results reflect both new research undertaken by GAO and previously compiled reports, such as the February 16, 2011, edition of the High-Risk Series covered in Issue 382 of this Update. When it comes to the agriculture sector, according to GAO, “[t]he fragmented federal oversight of food safety has caused inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient use of resources.” The report notes that 15 federal agencies “collectively administer at least 30 food related laws,” with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) overseeing meat, poultry, processed egg…
The Center for Food Safety has returned to a federal court in California charging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) with violations of the law in partially deregulating genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets. Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 11-0831 (N.D. Cal., filed February 23, 2011). Details about the agency’s action are included in Issue 381 of this Update. Seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, the group and several other organizations concerned about the safety of GE crops and their alleged potential to contaminate conventional and organic crops, challenge the February 4, 2011, APHIS decision to approve an environmental assessment prepared in connection with the agency’s decision to issue an interim partial deregulation of Roundup Ready® sugar beets. According to the complaint, “The partial deregulation decision purports to allow planting and use of [GE sugar beets] pending the completion by APHIS of an…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press release, FSIS has offered two definitions for “catfish,” one limited to all species in the family Ictaluridae and a broader one that covers all species in the order Siluriformes, which includes Ictaluridae, Pangasiidae and Clariidae, the three families “typically found in human food channels.” The proposed rule would also require, among other provisions, that all catfish “produced in or imported to the United States” bear an FSIS inspection mark or “a mark of inspection from the country from which it was exported.” In addition, the agency has suggested plans for (i) inspecting catfish farms, (ii)…
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an organization devoted to preventive medicine, a vegan diet and animal rights, has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming the agencies used deliberately obscure language in their 2010 Dietary Guidelines regarding the foods consumers should avoid. While the guidelines specifically call for increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, PCRM contends that the agencies “hide the food Americans should eat less of. The Guidelines use biochemical terms, such as ‘saturated fat’ and ‘cholesterol’ instead of specific food terms ‘meat’ and ‘cheese.’” According to PCRM, the guidelines are written this way due to “the USDA’s close ties to the meat and dairy industries, including fast-food companies such as McDonald’s.” The organization also apparently blames USDA’s dual mission of giving nutritional advice to Americans and promoting American agricultural products for the use of language…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a determination of nonregulated status for a corn variety genetically engineered (GE) to facilitate ethanol production. Developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Event 3272 or Enogen™ corn produces a microbial enzyme that, according to the petition for deregulation, is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be a regulated article under APHIS’ regulations in 7 CFR part 340.” After reviewing the scientific data and soliciting public feedback on a draft environmental assessment, APHIS has agreed that this variety of GE corn “should be granted nonregulated status” as of February 15, 2011. See Federal Register, February 15, 2011. Meanwhile, corn millers and other food industry interests have reportedly criticized the decision, telling The New York Times that cross-pollination with food-grade corn “could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy…
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman tackles the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) latest dietary guidelines in this opinion piece claiming that “the agency’s nutrition experts are at odds with its other mission: to promote our bounty in whatever form its processors make it.” According to Bittman, the guidelines are clearest when promoting “good” foods like fresh produce, but become “vague” when describing what not to eat, often resorting to scientific language and acronyms like SOFAS—Solid Fats and Added Sugars—“to avoid offending meat and sugar lobbies.” “The [USDA] can succeed at its conflicting goals only by convincing us that eating manufactured food lower in SOFAS is ‘healthy,’ thus implicitly endorsing hyper-engineered junk food with added fiber, reduced and solid fats and so on, ‘food’ that is often unimaginably far from its origins,” opines Bittman. “The advice people need is to cook and eat more real food, at the expense…
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist, writing in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, has reportedly cited the lack of a suitable definition for nanotechnology as an obstacle to the potential labeling of foods and packaging incorporating nanoparticles or materials. According to Jean Buzby, while the National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology in terms of size, i.e., “dimensions between approximately 1 and 100nm,” this range “is an arbitrary measure and was not set on any real meaning or relationship between particle size and toxicological effects or kinetics, such as chemical reaction rates.” Buzby apparently opines that the technology’s potential benefits need to be communicated to the public and calls for increased funding for safety research. In a related development, the Carolina Academic Press is reportedly poised to release a law school treatise on nanotechnology titled Nanotechnology Law and Policy Cases and Materials. Authored by Texas Tech University School of Law Professor…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has requested comments on two petitions for rulemaking submitted by animal rights groups seeking reformed regulations concerning “the disposition of non-ambulatory disabled” livestock at slaughter. FSIS also plans to clarify its requirements for “condemned non-ambulatory disabled cattle at official slaughter establishments.” The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) apparently asked FSIS to “repeal a provision in its ante-mortem inspection regulations that permits veal calves that are unable to rise from a recumbent position and walk because they are tired or cold to be set apart and held for treatment.” Current provisions allow those calves, if found free of disease, “to proceed to slaughter if they are able to rise and walk after being warmed or rested” and ultimately processed for human food. HSUS has petitioned the agency to amend the regulations “to require that non-ambulatory disabled veal calves be…
