California’s Office of Administrative Law has approved a no significant risk level for the chemical 4-Methylimidazole (4-MEI) proposed by California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Beginning February 8, 2012, no Proposition 65 warning will be required for exposures to 4-MEI at or below 29 micrograms per day. The action follows a December 2011 court determination that OEHHA complied with the law when it found that 4-MEI, a chemical present in many common foods and beverages, is a carcinogen known to the state to cause cancer. Used in the manufacture of various products such as pharmaceuticals, the chemical is a by-product of fermentation often found in soy sauce, roasted coffee and the caramel coloring added to colas and beer. Additional information about the court challenge and ruling appears in Issue 420 of this Update.
The European Commission (EC) has proposed a new data protection framework seeking to streamline existing directives and strengthen individuals’ online privacy rights. Titled “Safeguarding Privacy in a Connected World: A European Data Protection Framework for the 21st Century,” the proposed regulations would provide “a single set of rules” within the European Union (EU) and also apply to companies “active in the EU market” that handle personal data abroad. In particular, the framework would stipulate “increased responsibility and accountability for those processing personal data” such as names, photos, information posted on social networking sites, or computer IP and email addresses. Under the proposed rules, companies must obtain explicit user consent to gather personal data and must report within 24 hours (or as soon as possible) any security breach to a national supervisory authority, which “will be empowered to fine companies that violate EU data protection rules… up to €1 million or…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a February 14, 2012, public meeting in Arlington, Virginia, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) on April 23-28 in Shanghai, China. CCPR is responsible for establishing maximum pesticide-residue limits in specific food items, food groups or in “certain animal feeding stuffs moving in international trade where this is justified for reasons of protection of human health.” See Federal Register, January 23, 2012.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule updating the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs “to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Effective March 26, 2012, the rule seeks to reduce childhood obesity by requiring schools to (i) “increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals”; (ii) “reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals”; and (iii) “meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements.” According to USDA, the new standards reflect the recommendations of an Institute of Medicine expert panel as well as 132,000 public comments. Estimated to add $3.2 billion to school meal costs over five years, the final rule only partially implements the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010, which also includes a mandate to set nutritional standards for foods and beverages…
Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced bipartisan legislation (H.R. 3798) that would provide “a uniform national standard for the housing and treatment of egg-laying hens.” According to the bill’s lead author, Representative Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 would also bring sustainability to the egg industry by avoiding a “problematic patchwork of state laws.” Noting that the proposed measure formalizes a 2011 agreement between the United Egg Producers and The Humane Society of the United States, Schrader said the proposal would require egg producers to nearly double the housing space allotted to egg-laying hens and make other “significant animal welfare improvements” within a 15- to 18-year phase-in period. More specifically, the legislation advocates (i) replacing conventional cages with “enriched colony housing systems” that feature perches, nesting boxes and scratching areas; (ii) labeling on egg cartons that discloses the method used to…
A January 18, 2012, Mobiledia article has highlighted the increasingly sophisticated technology used to trace food back to its source, exploring how QR codes and other tracking devices can help consumers, retailers and regulators follow products from farm to fork. According to Mobiledia contributor Janet Maragioglio, systems like IBM’s InfoSphere label products with unique bar codes “at each stage of production and distribution” to identify “farms, slaughterhouses, shipping containers, trucks, grocery stores and other stops along the food supply chain.” As Maragioglio reports, InfoSphere can even tag specific animals so that consumers with smart phones could “theoretically, find out which specific cow their milk came from or which pig provided their bacon.” Meanwhile, the capabilities of these systems have drawn attention from government agencies interested in accessing information about the entire market. “Federal regulators are imposing increasingly strict requirements on food suppliers, and may soon need them to adopt traceability…
A Slate.com science writer has penned a January 17, 2012, “Medical Examiner” blog post criticizing media coverage that used recent microRNA (miRNA) research to erroneously suggest a link between genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and human health. According to biologist Emily Willingham, Nanjing University scientists reportedly identified miRNA from rice and other plant foods in human blood and tissues, raising questions about whether the foreign genetic material could inhibit normal protein functions. “The rice results, simply stated, show an effect of one miRNA from one non-GM plant on one protein in live mice and in cultured human liver cancer cells,” recounts Willingham, who singles out a January 9 Atlantic article by Ari LeVaux for mischaracterizing these findings as evidence of GMO health risks and igniting “a social-media chain reaction” in the process. In particular, Willingham refutes LeVaux’s implication that GM foods contain modified miRNA and thus should come under more stringent…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have joined HBO, Kaiser Permanente and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation in launching a new national campaign to curb obesity rates. According to a January 13, 2012, IOM press release, “The Weight of the Nation” initiative aims to “shed light on the facts and myths of this urgent public health issue and explore how obesity is impacting our nation and health care system.” The campaign evidently features policy action kits and several media pieces, including a four-part documentary to be aired May 14 and 15, 2012, on HBO, as well as a forthcoming IOM report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “that will review progress made so far to implement strategies to curb obesity and recommend selected actions aimed at accelerating progress in the near future.” In particular, the IOM…
Switzerland-based Nestlé S.A. has announced plans to fund a dairy farming institute in Shuangcheng, China, to help the region’s suppliers expand their businesses and source “high quality milk sustainably.” According to a January 11, 2012, press release, the new institute “aims to be the country’s leading dairy training center, offering teaching courses from national and international experts.” The company and city of Shuangcheng are reportedly investing 2.5 billion Chinese yuan in the project, which will also guarantee bank loans for purchasing additional cattle and increase the “training and technical assistance already provided to local farmers.” As further noted in a January 13, 2012, Wall Street Journal article, Nestlé evidently “hopes to increase its market share in China’s dairy industry” and believes larger farms will help “boost production and efficiency while projecting a reputation for safety.” Other foreign companies such as Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd. have likewise indicated interest in more consolidated…
Animal rights activists have reportedly claimed responsibility for an arson fire that destroyed 14 cattle trucks and other equipment at Harris Ranch in California’s San Joaquin Valley. In an anonymous e-mail message to the media, activists said the January 8, 2012, fire was started to protest “the horrors and injustice of factory farming.” The message ended with, “Until next time.” Apparently no people or animals were injured in the fire at the farming operation, one of the largest cattle feedlots in California and the 14th largest in the United States. See Truth About Trade & Technology, January 17, 2012.
