The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a proposed rule that would create a voluntary labeling program for ‘biobased” products under section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, as amended by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. According to USDA, “Biobased products are products that are composed wholly or significantly of biological ingredients – renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry materials.” Looking to encourage the increased use of these products in all market sectors, USDA has already identified 15,000 commercially available biobased products across approximately 200 categories, from cleaning products to construction materials. Manufacturers seeking a BioPreferred label must ensure that their items meet or exceed USDA-established minimum biobased content requirements. USDA is accepting comments on the proposed rule until September 29, 2009. See the Federal Register and USDA Press Release, July 31, 2009; Meatingplace.com, August 3, 2009.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published three draft guidance documents, with industry input, that provide recommended practices to prevent foodborne hazards associated with fresh produce. The documents pertain specifically to tomatoes, leafy greens and melons and “provide a guide for growers and processors to follow so they may better protect their produce from becoming contaminated,” according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. With specific suggestions ranging from clean water supplies to human hygiene, key elements include (i) an acceptable baseline standard of industry practices that help domestic and foreign firms minimize microbial contamination risks throughout the entire supply chain; (ii) specific recommendations relating to growing, harvesting, packing, processing, transporting, and distributing the product; and (iii) recordkeeping recommendations to help FDA quickly trace back to the source when an outbreak occurs. The agency is asking that comments on the drafts be submitted within 90 days from publication…
The U.S. Senate has reportedly approved a fiscal year 2010 budget for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would increase the combined funding for both agencies by 11 percent. Similar to a House of Representatives measure (H.R.2997) passed on July 9, 2009, the $125 billion appropriations bill (S. 1406) includes financial support for farm subsidies, food safety, land conservation, and the federal food stamp program. However, the House version continues a prohibition on cooked chicken imports from China and strips out funding for a voluntary national animal identification systems (NAIS), while the Senate has outlined steps to overturn the Chinese chicken ban and would preserve one-half of the $14.6 million requested by President Barack Obama (D) for NAIS. A House-Senate negotiating panel will meet to reconcile these differences before the bill heads to both chambers for a final vote. “These projects help to…
Shook, Hardy & Bacon Corporate Law Partner Nate Muyskens will join a panel of distinguished speakers in Washington, D.C. at a Legal iQ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) conference, September 21-23, 2009. Co-sponsored by Shook, the conference brings together counsel from global corporations and federal enforcement agencies to address FCPA issues with a specific focus on “Defining New Strategies in Global Anti-Corruption for 2009 and Beyond.” Muyskens will share a podium with representatives of Siemens Corp., Coca-Cola Ltd. and Morgan Stanley to discuss “Conducting Due Diligence of Foreign Third Parties to Minimize Liability Risks.” Conference organizer Legal iQ is a division of the International Quality & Productivity Center.
This article explores how the method of estimating the calories in food, developed in the late 19th century, may provide misleading information on the amount of energy people actually get from a food. The calorie counts are calculated by burning small samples of food, and science writer Bijal Trivedi observes, “Nutritionists are well aware that our bodies don’t incinerate food, they digest it. And digestion— from chewing food to moving it through the gut and chemically breaking it down along the way—takes a different amount of energy for different foods.” Trivedi compares the nutrients in a health-food bar and a chocolate brownie and discusses research showing that more highly refined, cooked and softer ingredients tend to be absorbed more readily when eaten, thus contributing higher actual caloric intake than raw or chewy foods. Despite the acknowledged inaccuracies in calorie counts, most nutritionists have apparently decided that the measuring system should not…
Cornell Law School Professor Sherry Colb discusses the recent incident involving the removal of a morbidly obese teen from the custody of his mother for child neglect. Colb questions the wisdom of South Carolina’s decision to place the child in the state’s protective custody, suggesting, “the government could spend considerably less money providing [the mother] with healthy food and information about nutrition.” Noting that the mother works long hours at more than one job and relies on fast food to feed her child, Colb points out that she only lacks resources, “not love or concern for her son.” She considers whether the government could take custody of a child with anorexia nervosa and thus, “needlessly add psychological trauma to an already fragile child’s life.” She also considers the typical diet offered in the nation’s school lunch programs, involving high-fat and processed carbohydrates. Colb concludes, “We should not be arresting people…
According to a news source, the Canadian Journal of Public Health has published research showing that folic-acid fortified foods often contain, on average, 50 percent more of the vitamin than listed on product labels. Some foods apparently contain 377 percent of the folic acid declared. The federal government reportedly adopted a folic-acid fortification program in the late 1990s affecting products ranging from breads, cookies, crackers, and pastas to desserts and ready-to-eat cereals. The incidence of certain birth defects in Canada has dropped by more than half since then, and the program is also credited with reducing heart defects and neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. Some in Canada have reportedly called for adding folic acid to other foods, but caution has been urged in light of the new research because too much folic acid can mask vitamin B12 deficiency, a problem for seniors with anemia. Excess levels can also apparently interfere…
The Urban Institute and the University of Virginia have issued a report claiming that lawmakers should study anti-tobacco campaigns as they consider taxing fattening foods and sugary drinks to curb the nation’s obesity problem. Titled “Reducing Obesity: Policy Strategies from the Tobacco Wars,” the report asserts that increased education about smoking and taxing tobacco products brought the percentage of U.S. smokers down from 42.4 percent of the population in 1965 to less than 20 percent in 2007. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, was quoted as saying that raising taxes “brings about the quickest, most measurable, and most pronounced decline in use.” Policies suggested in the report include (i) the adoption of excise or sales taxes on “fattening food,” such as ice cream, sugary drinks and candy; (ii) the placement of “clear and simple labels,” such as traffic-light signpost labels, “conveying the health risks of fattening foods”…
An industry trade group has sued Cal/EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to stop it from listing styrene as a carcinogen under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). Styrene Info. & Research Ctr. v. OEHHA, No. 09-53089 (Cal. Super. Ct., Sacramento Cty., filed 07/15/09). According to the complaint, styrene does not cause human cancer, and its proposed Prop. 65 listing would cause the $28-billion-a-year industry “irreparable harm” by stigmatizing the chemical. It also alleges that OEHHA failed to comply with administrative procedures in interpreting and implementing Prop. 65, created secret interpretative standards and refused to consider new scientific evidence indicating that styrene is not “known to cause cancer.” Styrene is used in milk and egg cartons, berry baskets, produce shipping crates, foodservice containers, plastic pipes, automobile parts, medical equipment, countertops, and many other products. To support its proposed styrene listing, OEHHA cited a 2002 International…
The Center for Biological Diversity has sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claiming that the agency has failed to take required action under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to further the polar bear’s conservation when making decisions about the use of pesticides and herbicides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). According to the July 8, 2009, letter, the polar bear was designated an endangered species in May 2008, and the ESA requires the EPA to consider protected species when registering pesticides under FIFRA. The center contends that many of the pesticides registered in the United States “are known likely to affect the polar bear” and that EPA has failed to comply with its consultation and review obligations as to more than 35 organophosphates, many of which have apparently been detected in the Arctic. Listed are chlorpyrifos, diazinon, disulfoton,…
