The European Union (EU) has temporarily prohibited the importation of some seeds and bean sprouts from Egypt after a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report linked the products to an E. coli O104:H4 outbreak that reportedly killed 51 people, including as many as six U.S. citizens. According to a July 5, 2011, EU press release, all imported seeds and beans “for sprouting” will be frozen until October 31, 2011, and all fenugreek seeds imported from one Egyptian company since 2009 will be destroyed. The ban apparently covers “seeds, fruit and spores used for sowing; leguminous vegetables, shelled or unshelled, fresh or chilled; fenugreek; dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split; soya beans, whether or not broken; other oil seeds and oleaginous fruit, whether or not broken.” Officials apparently traced the E. coli outbreaks in France and Germany to a single importer that shipped Egyptian fenugreek seeds to both…
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The European Parliament has reportedly approved new food labeling rules aimed at helping consumers make “better informed, healthier choices.” As outlined in a July 6, 2011, press release, the new regulations will require labels “to spell out a food’s energy content as well as fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt levels, in a way that makes them easy for consumers to read.” To this end, such nutritional information must be presented “in a legible tabular form on the packaging, together and in the same field of vision,” and “expressed per 100g or per 100ml,” with the option of expressing values per portion. Slated to take effect three to five years after publication in the EU Official Journal, the new rules also (i) tighten allergen labeling requirements for both pre-packaged products and non-packaged foods sold in restaurants or canteens; (ii) extend existing country-of-origin labeling laws to fresh meat from…
Czech and U.S. brewers seeking to market their beers under the name “Bud,” have apparently been at odds since the early 1900s. In the latest installment of the dispute, the Court of Justice of the European Communities has set aside a decision of the Court of First Instance which allowed the Czech brewer to oppose Anheuser-Busch’s registration of “Bud” in Europe. Anheuser-Busch Inc. v. Budějovický Budvar, No. C 96-09 (E.C.J., decided March 29, 2011). While the Court of Justice upheld some of the lower court’s rulings, it determined that the lower court erred (i) in the factors it relied on to decide if a “sign,” or trademark, in opposition to a new registration was used in a sufficiently significant manner, and (ii) in holding that the use of the sign in opposition does not necessarily have to occur before the date of the application for new registration. According to the Court…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) “has assessed the safety of a group of caramel colors authorized for use in food in the European Union,” concluding that all four classes “are neither genotoxic, nor carcinogenic and that there is no evidence to show that they have any adverse effects on human reproduction or for the developing child.” The ANS Panel evidently reevaluated the safety of Class I Plain Caramel or Caustic Caramel (E 150a), Class II Caustic Sulfite Caramel (E 150b), Class III Ammonia Caramel (E 150c) and Class IV Sulfite Ammonia Caramel (E 150d), setting a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 300 mg per kg body weight per day (mg/kg bw/day). It also set a more restrictive ADI of 100 mg/kg bw/day for caramel E150c. As ANS Panel Chair John Christian Larsen explained, “This means that…
European Union (EU) member states have reportedly endorsed a draft regulation aiming to “harmonize the implementation of the zero tolerance policy on non-authorized genetically modified (GM) material in feed.” According to a February 23, 2011, Europa press release, the proposal put forth by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) would allow imported feed to contain up to 0.1 percent unauthorized GM seed, a limit that reflects the lowest level of GM presence considered by the EU GMO Reference Laboratory when validating detection methods. If adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in the next three months, the draft regulation would apply only to GM feed material “authorized for commercialization in a third country and for which an authorization procedure is pending in the EU or of which the EU authorization has expired.” Under these rules, “feed will be considered non-compliant with EU legislation when…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a preliminary program for a consultative workshop on draft guidance on the selection of comparators, or controls, for the risk assessment of genetically modified organism (GMO) plants. Scientists and risk assessors from European Union (EU) member states, industry and non-governmental organizations are expected to attend the March 31, 2011, workshop in Brussels. According to EFSA’s website, agenda items include (i) “Principles of risk assessment in the EU legal framework”; (ii) “GMO risk assessment: pros and cons of different approaches”; (iii) “Specific food and feed/molecular characterization and environmental needs for selection comparator”; and (iv) “Risk assessment when no comparator is available.” Meanwhile, EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain has reportedly “returned no definitive opinion” on whether to approve or veto the use of three GMOs for maize and cotton. According to a news source, the inconclusive vote could thwart other forms of…
The German Cabinet has reportedly approved an action plan proposed byFood, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner that incorporates “tighter rules for dioxin checks into the Food and Feed Code (LFGB)” and proposes several statutory changes to feed production regulations. A response to dioxin-tainted animal feed that temporarily disrupted the European Union’s (EU’s) egg, poultry and pork supply, this early warning system will “enable the supervisory authorities in Germany to respond in a quicker and more targeted manner,” said Aigner, who has vowed “to promote these rules at EU-level. “ The new rules require German food and feed manufacturers “to report all test results on dioxins and similar problem substances to the competent authorities,” who will verify the information and act “immediately” if necessary, and directs private laboratories to “automatically report alarming measurement results of undesired substances that are hazardous to health in foods and animal feed.” According to…
The European Commission (EC) has reportedly threatened to regulate the animal feed industry after dioxin-tainted eggs from Germany triggered a widespread investigation involving poultry and pork farms across the region. EC spokesperson Frederic Vincent apparently told reporters that a meeting with industry leaders produced “no concrete proposals” to prevent new contamination, although participants have been given one month to suggest voluntary measures in lieu of legislation. “There will not be European compensation because it is not up to the European Union to fix the damage,” Vincent said. Meanwhile, German MEP Peter Liese has called for “the dioxin crisis . . . to be resolved on a European level,” possibly through use of a monitoring system, as well as European Union (EU) compensation for farmers caught up in food scandals. “Although EU directives regulate in principle we need better controls throughout the EU. There is a lot of trade within the…
WikiLeaks, which has made its reputation by placing otherwise unavailable documents on the Internet, has released a December 2010 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Paris in which the ambassador expresses concerns about European action on genetically modified (GM) crops. The cable calls for the preparation of a retaliation list of those countries opposing GM crops to “make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.” According to the cable, “the pro-biotech side in France— including within the farm union—have told us that retaliation is the only way to begin to turn this issue in France.” The cable notes that legislation currently pending before the French National Assembly and Senate “could make any biotech planting impossible in practical terms. The law would make farmers and seed companies legally liable for pollen drift and sets the stage for inordinately large cropping…
Having considered the matter for some six years, the General Court of the European Union (EU) has determined that chocolate makers Lindt & Sprüngli AG and August Storck AG cannot register certain three-dimensional shapes, their colored wrappings and ribbons as European Community trademarks. According to the court, chocolate rabbits, reindeer, bells, and mice “cannot be considered to be capable of identifying the commercial origin of the goods they designate.” The court opined that the Lindt & Sprüngli application involved shapes typical of those “presented at certain times of the year, in particular at Easter and Christmas.” The August Storck application was “made up of a combination of standard presentation elements, typical of the goods concerned,” said the court. See General Court of the European Union Press Release No. 124/10, December 17, 2010.
