In a 7-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a district court erred in enjoining the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from even partially deregulating Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa while the agency takes steps to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., decided June 21, 2010). The district court found that APHIS failed to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) as required under NEPA before granting Monsanto’s petition to deregulate the seed, which has been genetically modified (GM) to resist glyphosate, a weed killer used on GM crop fields. The court then enjoined APHIS from deregulating GM alfalfa until an EIS could be completed and further enjoined the seeds’ sale and planting beyond sales already made in March 2007. Farmers who had purchased the seed were allowed to plant it that year. Writing for the majority, Justice…
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) has reportedly signed a bill (H.B. 430) that requires “farm of origin” labels on all strawberries sold in the state. According to the bill’s sponsor, Representative Stephen Pugh (R.-Ponchatoula), strawberry growers backed the measure “as a way to protect the integrity of their industry." With input from the Louisiana Strawberry Marketing Board, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Food Quality Services staff will reportedly promulgate the rules and regulations for enforcement, a process estimated to take 120 days. LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain said the labeling “will let consumers know they are getting the freshest product possible. Consumers are concerned about food safety, and it’s always good to know where the food we eat was grown, produced, processed, or prepared.” See LDAF Press Release, June 15, 2010.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) public health watchdog has issued new guidance that claims salt and saturated fat reduction could prevent 40,000 unnecessary deaths a year from heart disease and stroke. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has called for a maximum daily intake of 6g of salt per adult by 2015 and 3g daily by 2025. In addition, it has recommended that manufacturers reduce the levels of saturated fats in all food products and eliminate the use of trans fats. The guidance also urges the National Health Service and other policy makers to (i) ensure that low-salt and low-fat foods can be sold for less than their higher-content equivalents; (ii) extend restrictions on TV advertising “for foods high in saturated fats, salt and sugar to 9 p.m. to protect children”; (iii) encourage “local planning authorities to restrict planning permission for take-aways and other food retail outlets in…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted two proposed information collections to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The first collection pertains to the adoption of the model FDA Food Code by local, state and tribal governments, “an important step toward the agency’s goal for consistent, scientifically sound, and risk-based food safety standards and practices.” To facilitate the implementation of regulations based on the model Food Code, FDA in 2001 began surveying the rulemaking activities of these governments and has concluded that “an extension of OMB approval of the survey is needed in order to keep the current database accurate and up-to date.” Estimating that 75 respondents will provide four quarterly updates, FDA has requested written comments by July 26, 2010. The agency has also announced an information collection involving the threshold of regulation for substances used in food-contact articles. To determine whether a substance used in…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently took action on the divestiture of certain Whole Foods Market Inc.’s assets as part of the consent order that concluded antitrust litigation the agency brought to challenge Whole Foods’ 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Market, Inc. According to an FTC news release, the Whole Foods divestiture trustee sought approval to sell three Wild Oats stores and certain intellectual property. FTC commissioners approved the sale of Wild Oats stores in Kansas City, Missouri; Boulder, Colorado; and Portland, Maine. While allowing the sale of Wild Oats’ and Alfalfa Markets’ intellectual property to proceed as to Luberski, Inc., and A-M Holdings, LLC, the FTC denied a proposal to sell their intellectual property to Topco Associates LLC, apparently finding that this sale would not satisfy the purposes of intellectual property divestiture. See FTC Press Release, June 18, 2010; Naturalproductsmarketplace.com, June 21, 2010.
This investigative report by Slate’s wine columnist, Mike Steinberger, examines the retailer allegedly at the center of a multimillion dollar fraud rippling throughout the rare wine world. Manhattan-based Royal Wine Merchants apparently provided its clientele with highly desirable wines that were later deemed fakes and traced back to Hardy Rodenstock, a supplier suspected of creating counterfeits such as “the so-called Thomas Jefferson bottles.” A lawsuit filed by one collector has since highlighted the connection between the two enterprises, revealing that “Rodenstock shipped 818 bottles of wine to Royal between 1998 and 2008.” According to Steinberger, “Many industry insiders… believe that the Rodenstock invoices prove that the rare wine business has indeed been polluted by fraud.” Steinberger meticulously details the voyage of one fake vintage in particular – a magnum of 1921 Château Pétrus – which changed hands several times and left a glut of litigation in its wake. Although a…
Shook Of Counsel Jim Andreasen has been appointed by the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources leadership to chair the section’s Agricultural Management Committee. His one-year term will begin at the conclusion of the section’s 2010 annual business meeting to be held August 8 during the ABA’s annual meeting in San Francisco. As committee chair, Andreasen will be responsible for appointing committee vice chairs, developing a committee action plan and leading the vice chairs in implementing the plan. He previously served as the committee’s programs vice chair. To view the committee’s web page, please click here.
Book author Anneli Rufus recently explored claims made about food ingredients that stimulate the purported “fifth taste” promoted by, among others, Ajinomoto, a Japanese company that manufactures monosodium glutamate (MSG), which was created in the early 1900s as the essence of ingredients that purportedly give food a richness and savoriness identified as umami. Ajinomoto-funded researchers have apparently fueled a food fad that has been gathering steam over the past decade by claiming that umami stimulates particular taste buds, much as sweet, sour, salty and bitter do. Rufus discusses ongoing debates about the safety of MSG; anecdotal evidence allegedly shows that MSG in foods can cause migraines, obesity, asthma, and brain damage. While the Food and Drug Administration requires that food producers include MSG on product labels, the agency does consider MSG as GRAS (generally recognized as safe). Still, other ingredients, such as yeast extract and hydrolyzed vegetable protein also contain…
The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted new public health policies concerning the reporting of fats on nutrition labels and obesity reduction. During its June 14, 2010, annual meeting, AMA urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to adopt more “precise processes” to measure trans and saturated fat content in foods. Under current FDA guidelines, trans and saturated fat content can be listed on nutrition labels as zero if the food product contains less than 0.5 grams per serving. AMA claims that products labeled “trans fat free” or “zero trans fat” could supply in one serving as much as 25 percent of the recommended daily allowance of trans fats. Claiming that “it’s difficult to make dietary changes if food labels are unclear,” AMA board member Edward Langston urged FDA to use “clear, concise and uniform labeling” and list the most accurate information. AMA also adopted a policy supporting efforts to…
An organic industry watchdog has released a June 7, 2010, letter that urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase the transparency of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) appointment process. “The Cornucopia Institute, and other organic advocates, have long been concerned that representatives from corporate agribusiness have obtained a disproportionate influence on rulemaking at the USDA,” states a June 8 press release, which claims that in the past, “many eminently qualified candidates . . . did not have the political clout to be appointed.” According to Cornucopia, USDA has continued “the Bush administration policy of keeping secret the nominees and the related corporations or organizations they work for or represent.” The group alleges that NOSB positions reserved for consumers or organic farmers have previously gone to specialists employed by corporate agribusiness or only the largest organic marketers. It has thus asked USDA to make public “the name of…
