According to a news source, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors, who test the meat and trimmings used in ground beef, deal with about 60 positive E. coli tests annually by taking steps to ensure that the tested meat does not reach consumers, but they apparently fail to conduct a full inspection to try to pinpoint the source of contamination or locate additional meat that may be contaminated. Food safety and consumer advocates, such as Food & Water Watch, have reportedly called on the USDA to adopt a policy change that would require deeper investigations when positive results turn up in routine investigations. They contend that this could indicate a breakdown in the food safety system and consumers are at risk because other tainted meat could remain in the food chain. A spokesperson for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was quoted as saying, “The risk profile of these…
A putative class action has been filed in a federal court in Louisiana against CVS Caremark Corp., alleging that the company “has a long history of selling out-of-date medications, baby formula, and food.” Cooper v. CVS Caremark Corp., No. 10-331 (E.D. La., filed February 5, 2010). The named plaintiff, who claims she purchased an expired over-the-counter (OTC) medication from a CVS store, seeks to certify a nationwide class of persons who likewise purchased expired products and asks the court for injunctive relief and compensatory damages. The complaint alleges that the expired OTC medications are “adulterated” under Food and Drug Administration guidelines and that their sale violates the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The plaintiff also claims that expired OTC drugs, food and baby formula “are unmerchantable and unfit for ordinary use.”
A U.S. magistrate judge has sentenced to three years of probation the couple who owned the company that imported melamine-tainted pet food ingredients into the United States from China. Sally Qing Miller, a Chinese national, and her husband, Stephen Miller, were also barred from importing pet food ingredients and were each ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. According to a press release, no further restitution was required “in light of a $24 million settlement in a related civil suit reached in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.” Their company, ChemNutra, Inc. was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. The Food and Drug Administration has reportedly estimated that 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died after eating the contaminated food in 2007. Sally Miller was quoted as saying, “I’m really, really sorry this happened. I hope through this tragic, unfortunate event, the whole industry can learn from us, from…
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court’s decision not to allow a flavoring company to file cross claims in litigation between an insurance carrier and the company that supplied vanilla beans tainted with mercury to the flavoring company. The Travelers Ins. Co. v. Dammann & Co., Inc., No. 09-1225 (3d Cir., decided February 5, 2010). The flavoring company sought to hold the vanilla bean supplier liable under contract, tort and indemnification theories, and the district court held that the proposed cross claims were time-barred or failed to state a claim. The Third Circuit agreed. The flavoring company’s request to file cross claims occurred more than four years after it received the vanilla beans, and its breach of warranty claims were thus untimely under the Uniform Commercial Code. Because New Jersey law applied to the case, the appeals court then discussed at length why it believed New…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued a request for public comment on its determination that bisphenol A (BPA) “appears to meet the criteria for listing as known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity under Proposition 65, based on findings of the National Toxicology Program’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (NTP-CERHR, 2008).” The notice states that BPA is a “[c]omponent in polycarbonate plastic used in water and baby bottles, present in epoxy resins used to line food cans and in dental sealants.” Comments must be submitted by April 13, 2010. If requested by March 12, a public forum will be scheduled for the public to “discuss the scientific data and other relevant information on whether the chemical meets the criteria for listing in the regulations.” If OEHHA determines, after reviewing the comments, that BPA should be listed, the agency will publish a…
The Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests has apparently imposed an indefinite moratorium on the commercial introduction of genetically modified (GM) eggplant, or brinjal, while the agency considers the recommendations of its Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). In announcing the decision, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh cited negative public reactions to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) brinjal, as well as the objections of state governments, unknown safety and environmental issues, and concerns about foreign influence in the domestic agricultural market. Ramesh has also called for the creation of an independent genetic engineering regulator and further research to examine “the chronic effects of Bt brinjal on human health.” As he stated in his remarks, the ministry has adopted “a cautious, precautionary principle-based approach” to Bt brinjal that “does not, in any way, mean conditional acceptance.” Meanwhile, advocacy groups have reportedly welcomed the ban, which GM Watch has hailed as “a groundbreaking victory for citizens, farmers,…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued its opinion that the Immunofortis® in Danone Baby Nutrition’s infant formula does not, as the company claims, “naturally strengthen the baby’s immune system.” According to EFSA, the scientific evidence the company submitted (i) “had considerable limitations,” (ii) “was inconsistent,” and (iii) “was not convincing.” It concluded that the evidence was “insufficient to establish a cause and effect relationship between the consumption of Immunofortis® and the initiation of appropriate immune responses including the defence against pathogens.” The company apparently sought the opinion of the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies as to its claim and provided 25 human study references and five non-human studies. See EFSA Journal 2010.
The European Commission has released a report, “Understanding Public Debate on Nanotechnologies: Options for Framing Public Policy,” that discusses several commission projects designed to assess “the nature of public debate on nanosciences and nanotechnologies, and the ways in which deliberative approaches could lead to better governance of these technologies.” The overview includes summaries of the FramingNano, Nanocap, Deepen, and Nanoplat projects. The authors, who were involved as coordinators or participants in these projects, acknowledge that nanotechnology policy is still in its initial phases of development and could be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of products expected to enter the market in the near future. They note that international authorities have not yet agreed to definitions relating to the technology and that the European Union is regulating nanoparticles as “chemical substances” under REACH. Among other matters, they observe that nanotechnology in food is expected to be defined as a “novel food,”…
During a recent meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Committee on Milk and Milk Products, delegates reportedly agreed to recommend that the commission revoke the international standards on processed cheese when it meets in July 2010. A committee working group had been charged with redrafting a proposed standard for processed cheese and reported that it was unable to do so given the delegations that “continued to insist on textual solutions reflecting closely their own national situation, which did not attract consensus.” According to the working group’s co-chairs, “the fundamental difficulty with attempting to develop this standard arises from the requirement for the standard to address the very large variety of products marketed as processed cheese, while retaining scope for innovation.” A representative of the International Dairy Foods Association, speaking on behalf of the U.S. representatives to the committee reportedly said, “The U.S. government and dairy industry have long believed that…
Calling it one of the most urgent health issues facing the nation, the White House has initiated efforts to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. President Barack Obama (D) has signed a Presidential Memorandum which creates a Task Force on Childhood Obesity that includes Cabinet members and is charged with developing within 90 days a “comprehensive interagency plan” that “builds on effective strategies, engages families and communities, and mobilizes both public and private sector resources.” The Obama administration will also reportedly ask Congress to improve childhood nutrition by banning sugary snacks and drinks from school vending machines and requiring schools to offer healthier alternatives. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a news source that the administration will seek the changes when the Childhood Nutrition Act is overhauled later this year. See The Associated Press, February 8, 2010. First lady Michelle Obama will also take up the matter and…
