In advance of the August 30-September 3, 2010, session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods, draft U.S. positions will be considered during a public meeting scheduled for August 16. Written comments may be presented during the meeting or forwarded to the U.S. delegate to the Codex session, Dr. Kevin Greenlees, who works in the Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Among other issues on the upcoming Codex agenda are (i) draft maximum residue limits for veterinary drugs (at step seven of an eight-step Codex process), (ii) a discussion paper on methods of analysis for these residues in foods, (iii) a draft priority list of veterinary drugs requiring evaluation by a joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) expert committee on food additives, (iv) a discussion paper on veterinary drugs in honey production, and (v) a discussion…
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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 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called for comment on “the information collection provisions of FDA’s regulations for submission of petitions, including food and color additive petitions (including labeling) and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) affirmations.” As required by the Office of Management and Budget, the agency has invited comments on the following: (i) “Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA’s functions, including whether the information will have practical utility”; (ii) “the accuracy of FDA’s estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used”; (iii) “ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected”; and (iv) “ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.” FDA has also…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a March 23, 2010, public meeting to discuss draft U.S. positions for the 26th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) slated for April 12-16, 2010, in Paris, France. Issues to be discussed include (i) “Draft Revised Code of Ethics for International Trade in Foods”; (ii) “Review of the Risk Analysis Policies of Codex Committees”; (iii) “Definition of the Term ‘Competent Authority’”; and (iv) “Discussion Paper on the Development of Joint Codex and World Organization for Animal Health Standards.” FSIS has also announced a March 29, 2010, public meeting to discuss draft U.S. positions for the 4th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF) slated for April 26-30, 2010, in Izmir, Turkey. Agenda items include proposed draft maximum levels for melamine in food and feed and a priority list of contaminants and…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a February 8, 2010, public meeting to discuss draft U.S. positions for the 42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) slated for March 15-19, 2010, in Beijing, China. Co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the meeting will include discussions concerning (i) “endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food additives and processing aids in [C]odex standards”; (ii) “draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the General Standards for Food Additives (GSFA)”; (iii) “proposals for changes or additions to the International Numbering System (INS) for food additives”; (iv) “identification of problems and recommendations related to the inconsistent presentation of food additives provisions in Codex commodity standards; and (v) “the Codex standard for food grade salt.” See Federal Register, January 28, 2010.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Food Safety and the Agricultural Marketing Service have announced a January 13, 2010, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to provide information and receive comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 9th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP) February 1-5 in Auckland, New Zealand. Agenda items include discussion of the draft amendment to the fermented milks standard, draft standard for processed cheese and purported inconsistencies in food additive provisions. See Federal Register, January 8, 2010.
According to a press report, three people from the Shaanxi Jinqiao Dairy Co. have been arrested and charged with producing and selling toxic food. They are apparently accused of selling more than five tons of milk powder laced with melamine to a food additive firm, which discovered the contamination. The tainted product was apparently recovered before reaching the marketplace. The detentions come a little more than a year after a nationwide scandal involving contaminated milk powder killed six children and sickened more than 300,000. The first civil trial to consider claims by parents of an injured child began in November 2009, but a second hearing in the matter has reportedly been delayed after the defendants demanded additional investigation into the cause of the child’s illness. See FoodNavigatorUSA.com, December 11, 2009.
Starting from the premise that consumer enjoyment of food is linked directly to its color, this article discusses the types of substances that have been used over the centuries to change the appearance of food products and how various governments have tried to regulate their use. The earliest food coloring regulations in the United States were developed under pressure by dairy producers who were able, at one time, to persuade the legislatures of five states to pass laws requiring that margarine be dyed pink to compromise its acceptability in the marketplace. The author traces the history of U.S. laws regulating color additives, noting how debate has raged over the application of strict standards that bar the use of substances with even a 1 in a billion cancer risk to applying what the Food and Drug Administration has championed and called de minimis exceptions that would allow the use of color…
USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the Undersecretary for Food Safety have announced a February 10, 2009, public meeting to develop draft positions on agenda items for the 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) slated for March 16-20, 2009, in Shanghai, China. Part of the Codex Alimentarius Commission established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization, CCFA (i) sets maximum levels for individual food additives; (ii) prepares priority lists of food additives for risk assessment by FAO and WHO experts; (iii) assigns functional classes to food additives; (iv) recommends specifications of identity and purity for food additives; (v) considers methods of analysis; and (vi) considers standards for related subjects such as food additive labeling. Specific agenda items for the session also include the Codex General Standard for Food Additives and the scope of its food categories. The…
According to animal studies conducted by Korean-based researchers, a common food additive used in processed meats and chicken, when fed to mice at levels roughly equivalent to human intake, increases lung tumor progression and growth. Hua Jin, et al., “High Dietary Inorganic Phosphate Increases Lung Tumorigenesis and Alters Akt Signaling,” American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine (2009). While phosphate is apparently an essential nutrient, its increasing use in foods ranging from processed meats to cheeses, beverages and bakery goods has more than doubled human intake since the 1990s to some 1,000 mg daily. The scientists concluded that “careful regulation of dietary Pi may be critical for lung cancer prevention as well as treatment.” See Foodnavigator-usa.com, January 6, 2009.
