European animal advocates and some European Commission (EC) members recently attended a Conference on Global Trade and Farm Animal Welfare in Brussels, Belgium, where they reportedly called on legislators to include animal welfare provisions in all global trade agreements. In particular, EC members noted that animal welfare restrictions have driven up the cost of meat production in Europe, making it more economical to import these products. They thus urged Europe to demand equivalency standards in international trade agreements similar to those already in place for biotechnology. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s chief veterinarian, Elizabeth Parker, noted that Europe bases its welfare standards on non-scientific factors, pointing to the practice of using “Eurobarometer” surveys to craft policies in line with public opinion. “The ultimate goal is to make sure we take care of our animals and produce safe and affordable beef supply and we do that,” stated Parker in an interview…
Tag Archives food safety
A number of bills have already been introduced in the new Congress to overhaul the food safety system in the United States. Driven by concerns that current laws are not providing adequate protection for consumers, House members and Senators have proposed the following measures: H.R. 185 – Introduced January 6, 2009, by Representative José Serrano (D-N.Y.), this bill would require that consumers be notified if food products are made with crops, livestock or poultry raised on land to which sewage sludge was applied. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Agriculture. H.R. 759 – Introduced January 18, 2009, by Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.), this bill would require fees for facility registration, verification that food plants are operating under an HACCP plan, HHS guidance or regulations to establish science-based standards for conducting hazard analysis and implementing preventive controls, HHS biannual review of data to identify…
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has published a notice soliciting nominations for membership on a national advisory committee that addresses meat and poultry inspection issues. Names and curriculum vitae must be postmarked no later than January 23, 2009. FSIS is seeking a diverse membership drawn from industry, academia, state and local government officials, public health organizations, and consumers and consumer organizations. The committee “provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary on meat and poultry inspection programs.” See Federal Register, December 24, 2008.
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach traveled to Costa Rica this week to open an HHS/FDA office that will serve Latin America in the hope of improving collaboration on food and product safety issues. Plans for the new office were apparently launched in June 2008, when health ministers from Central America and Panama gathered in El Salvador to develop a framework for ensuring the trade of quality goods among the countries. Similar HHS/FDA offices are already operating in Brussels, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and other offices will open in two cities in India and a location in the Middle East. The stated goal of the HHS/FDA “Beyond Our Borders Initiative is to foster collaboration with regulatory authorities around the world, as well as to forge partnerships with industry on the safety of food, animal feed, drugs and medical devices.” See HHS Press Release,…
The Chinese government has reportedly published its first official list of food additives that are prohibited in the domestic food supply. The list includes 17 acids, chemicals and other substances–such as formaldehyde, boric acid and sodium thiocyanate–used to improve the appearance, texture or longevity of food products. In addition, the country’s regulators have warned of raids on high-risk companies that have thus far failed to address their own safety problems. “These lists . . . cannot cover all problems linked to illegally adding substances in food and abusing additives in the industry,” stated the Chinese health ministry, which this month launched a food safety initiative to increase consumer confidence. See AFP, December 16, 2008.
The GAO, which serves as the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, has released a report that analyzes federal oversight of genetically engineered (GE) crops and recommends steps the agencies could take to better address the unauthorized release of these crops into food, animal feed or the environment. Titled Genetically Engineered Crops: Agencies Are Proposing Changes to Improve Oversight but Could Take Additional Steps to Enhance Coordination and Monitoring, the 109-page report discusses the roles that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) play in regulating GE crops. It also notes how six unauthorized releases of GE crops in recent years may not have adversely affected human or animal health, but did result in lost trade opportunities. The GAO’s assessment was undertaken at the request of Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), the chair and ranking member respectively of the Committee on…
GAO has launched a new “Urgent Issues” Web page that outlines food safety priorities and possible government actions to secure the national food supply. According to GAO, “the fragmented nature of the federal food oversight system undermines the government’s ability to (i) plan more strategically to inspect food product process, (ii) identify and react more quickly to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, and (iii) focus on promoting the safety and integrity of the nation’s food supply.” The government watchdog also urges the executive branch to “reconvene the President’s Council on Food Safety” and “develop a government-wide performance plan that is results-oriented and provides a cross-agency perspective to help ensure agencies’ goals are complementary.” In addition, GAO calls on Congress to “commission the National Academy of Sciences or a blue ribbon panel to conduct a detailed analysis of alternative organizational food safety structures” and “enact comprehensive, uniform, and risk-based food safety legislation.”
FDA this week released a progress report on the Food Protection Plan launched in November 2007 to address “both food safety and food defense for domestic and imported products.” The report states that federal regulators are "working collaboratively across the agency to implement the three-core elements of protection: prevention, intervention and response.” It particularly notes that FDA has (i) established offices in China and India, with the intention of expanding its presence in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East; (ii) developed melamine and cyanuric acid testing for animal feed; (iii) developed rapid detection methods for E. coli and Salmonella; (iv) enhanced its ability to track foodborne illness outbreaks; (v) signed cooperative agreements with six states to form rapid response teams to handle emergencies; and (vi) approved the use of irradiation for iceberg lettuce and spinach. FDA also inspected 5,930 high-risk domestic food establishments in fiscal year 2008 and plans…
With more than 54,000 Chinese children sickened by the melamine contamination of milk and infant formula products in recent months and the government stalling over compensation of their families, some 15 lawyers have reportedly decided to file the claims of nearly 100 families in a single lawsuit against the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co. The lawyers have not apparently set a date for its filing and intend to hold discussions with the dairy company at the heart of the alleged scandal. According to a news source, they are hoping to force a settlement by grouping a large number of claims. China’s government has ordered hospitals to order free treatment for the sick infants, but not all costs have been covered, and at least a dozen individual cases have already been filed. These suits are in a “legal limbo” because the courts have neither accepted nor refused them. See Associated Press, November…
The Chinese government has reportedly arrested the owner of a poultry feed operation implicated in a nationwide scandal involving melamine-tainted animal products. The manufacturer apparently confessed to using the industrial chemical in 212 tons of chicken feed sold to Dalian Hanovo Enterprise Group, which then distributed adulterated eggs to Chinese consumers. The government also destroyed an additional 75 tons of contaminated feed seized from the owner as part of its crackdown on the widespread practice of adding melamine to feed and dairy products to artificially boost protein counts. State media sources have indicated that inspectors have shuttered 238 illegal farms and 130 dairy farms since melamine-laden infant formula first sickened thousands of children. The scandal has closed approximately 20 percent of China’s dairy industry. See What Not To Eat: Marion Nestle, November 12, 2008. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has apparently issued a detention order for milk-containing products imported…
