The European Union (EU) has reportedly introduced new rules that would halve the percentage of added water allowed in bacon products labeled as such. According to media sources, current laws set the added water limit for bacon at 10 percent, but the updated measure would require bacon containing more than 5 percent added water to be renamed “bacon with added water.” If adopted by the European Council this fall, the regulations would apparently take effect in 2015. The plan has since drawn feedback from both bacon retailers and aficionados, as well as government agencies like the U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which said that the stricter requirements would “make it clearer to shoppers exactly what they are buying.” The British Retailers Consortium (BRC), however, was less sanguine, telling reporters that reducing the added water content would make bacon “less moist, less succulent and less tender when it…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would require raw meat and poultry products that contain injected marinades or solutions to be named in a way that clearly distinguishes them from 100 percent meat or poultry products. According to FSIS, consumers are likely unaware that“enhanced products” may contain increased levels of sodium because current labels are unclear as to whether a solution has been added. For example, under current rules, 100 percent chicken breasts and products containing 60 percent chicken and 40 percent solution may both be called and labeled “chicken breast.” The latter product must indicate that a solution has been added, but manufacturers have been doing so in typefaces and fonts that can be difficult to read. To avoid misbranding, FSIS proposes that the labels feature (i) as the product’s “name” an accurate description of the product with the percent…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) related to bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity testing and the study of its potential environmental impacts. The agency has requested comments by September 26, 2011, on (i) requiring toxicity testing “to determine the potential for BPA to cause adverse effects, including endocrine-related effects, in environmental organisms at low concentrations,” and (ii) monitoring for BPA in surface water, ground water, drinking water, soil, sediment, and landfill leachate “to determine whether environmental organisms may currently be exposed to concentrations of BPA in the environment that are at or above levels of concern for adverse effects, including endocrine-related effects.” According to a July 26, 2011, EPA press release, the ANPRM builds on a March 2010 action plan meant to strengthen the agency’s chemical management program and “assure the safety of chemicals that many American encounter in their daily lives.”…
The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) will hold a public meeting August 26, 2011, to solicit public input on a draft document titled “Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione.” Diacetyl is a butter-flavoring chemical widely used in baked goods and microwave popcorn. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against flavoring manufacturers by workers and others alleging that inhaling the substance caused their bronchiolitis obliterans, a debilitating lung condition. Pentanedione is also a constituent of synthetic flavoring agents. NIOSH will make the draft document available online by August 12, and those wishing to participate in the public meeting must notify the NIOSH docket office no later than August 19. Public comments must be submitted by October 14. With limited meeting space, NIOSH will give priority to those who register to provide oral comments; 10 minutes will be allotted to each presenter. Among the matters…
Consumer advocacy organizations have written to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to report the results of tests conducted on apple juice, showing arsenic levels above federal tolerance levels for drinking water. The organizations, Food & Water Watch and the Empire State Consumer Project, urge FDA to “establish tolerance levels for arsenic in food” and “to focus its import surveillance resources on imported juice concentrate as a product of concern and increase its testing of those imported products.” One apple juice sample apparently contained 55 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water tolerance level for arsenic is 10 ppb. According to the groups’ letter to FDA, the agency has admitted that it has “established a ‘level of concern’ when arsenic levels exceed 23 parts per billion, but has no actionable levels for regulatory purposes.” See Food & Water Watch News Release, July…
The American Bakers Association and a number of other industry trade associations have submitted a citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking regulations that would exempt those businesses engaged in storing packaged foods from hazard analysis and prevention controls applicable to food producers and processors. The petition notes that under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Congress allowed FDA to implement its food safety provisions “in a manner that acknowledges the difference in risk posed by various types of operations.” Claiming that “storage facilities themselves pose a very limited, if any, food safety risk,” the petition notes that any potential hazards in warehouses are already addressed through existing good manufacturing practices governing warehousing and distribution facilities. The petitioners, including the Grocery Manufacturers Association, International Bottled Water Association, and Snack Food Association, seek a rule that would state, “A facility that is engaged solely in the storage, holding,…
Two U.S. senators have asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to finalize standards for a 2007 proposed rule for gluten-free food labels. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) claim the delay is “creating unnecessary confusion for consumers and uncertainty for agricultural producers.” Included as part of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, the proposed gluten-free labeling rule represents the last time “any significant action on this has been taken,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that “regulatory uncertainty surrounding FDA’s inaction has led to a proliferation of ‘gluten free’ standards and labels provided by 3rd party groups.” Wyden also issued a July 21, 2011, press release asserting that “accurate and standard” labeling on gluten-free products is essential for those with Celiac disease—“a painful disorder stemming from the inability to properly digest the gluten found in breads.”
A recent study claims that the calorie counts which restaurants provide for their fare is “accurate overall,” although there is “substantial inaccuracy for some individual foods, with understated energy contents for those with lower energy contents.” Lorien E. Urban, et al., “Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Restaurant Foods,” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 20, 2011. Noting that restaurant foods “provide approximately 35% of the daily energy intake in US individuals,” researchers used a validated bomb calorimetry technique to test 269 food items, including 242 unique items, from 42 quick-serve and sit-down restaurants in Arkansas, Indiana and Massachusetts. Their findings apparently indicated that 19 percent of the 269 samples “contained measured energy contents of at least 100 kcal/portion more than the state energy contents,” an amount “that has been projected to cause 5 to 15 kg of weight gain per year if consumed daily.” The study also determined…
Corporations and Health Watch writer Monica Gagnon recently interviewed Anna Lappé about her new book, Diet for a Hot Planet, which describes the agricultural industry as “not just a victim but also a perpetrator of climate change.” According to Lappé, “Our food system indirectly and directly is responsible for about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions,” a statistic she says is “largely missing from the public conservation.” In particular, Lappé focuses on a “corporate response to the crisis” that reflects the “multifaceted” nature of the food sector, where “players don’t always have the same self-interest and use different strategies of denying or acknowledging their impact on climate.” “What we are seeing is that lot of food companies are pushing to be their own police, not to have government regulate the industry,” Lappé claims, turning a critical eye on strategies like “green advertising” and urging consumers to conduct their own research on…
The 17 companies comprising the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) have reportedly agreed to abide by new uniform nutrition criteria as part of a voluntary effort to encourage healthier dietary choices among children. Under the new rules, CFBAI signatories have pledged not to market the following products to children: (i) juices with added sugars and more than 160 calories per serving, (ii) ready-to-drink flavored milks containing more than 24 grams of total sugars per 8 fluid ounces, and yogurt containing more than 170 calories and 23 g of total sugars per 6 ounces; (iii) seeds, nuts, nut butters, and spreads with more than 220 calories, 3.5 g of saturated fat, 240 milligrams of sodium, and 4 g of sugar per 2 tablespoons; and (iv) main dishes and entrees with more than 350 calories, 10 percent calories from saturated fat, 600 mg of sodium, and 15 g of sugar…
