The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued a final rule revising the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances with regard to the use of tetracycline, formic acid and attapulgite during the production and processing of organic crops and food ingredients. According to NOP, the most recent iteration of the National List permitted the use of tetracycline “for fire blight control only” in apple, pear and other organic fruit crops until October 21, 2012. The final rule has amended the National List to specify that the substance can be used to control fire blight in apple and pear crops only and to extend the expiration date until October 12, 2014. In addition, NOP has added formic acid to the National List “solely for use as a pesticide within honeybee colonies” to suppress infestations of Varroa mites and approved attapulgite, a substance generally regarded as safe by the…
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided which of the parties sued over an E. coli outbreak that sickened dozens of Sizzler Steak House patrons in 2000 and caused the death of a 3-year-old are liable for consequential damages, indemnity and costs under various supply chain and insurance contracts. Kriefall v. Sizzler USA Franchise, Inc., Nos. 2009AP1212 & 2010AP491 (Wis., decided June 29, 2012). Among other matters, the court ruled that Sizzler was entitled to (i) recover consequential damages for the meat supplier’s breach of implied warranties despite limiting language in the continuing guaranty provision of their contract, and (ii) indemnity from the meat supplier for Sizzler’s advance partial payment to the family of the deceased child “because the payment was not voluntary and the jury found that Sizzler was zero percent liable for the E. coli contamination.” The court also ruled that Sizzler could not recover its attorney’s fees despite a jury finding…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a July 6, 2012, notice announcing its decision to restructure its National Residue Program to permit more extensive compound testing of meat, poultry and egg products. According to FSIS, the revamped program aims to reduce the number of samples analyzed while allowing the agency to assess more compounds per sample using improved multi-residue methods. In particular, these methods will enable FSIS to screen for pesticides and environmental contaminants as well as legal and illegal veterinary drugs such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and growth promoters. “Under the new system, one sample may be tested for as many as 55 pesticide chemicals, 9 kinds of antibiotics, various metals, and eventually more than 50 other chemicals,” explained the agency in a July 2 press release, which noted that the previous program required FSIS to collect one sample per animal and…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has issued its “2012 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce,” updating “pesticide loads” on 45 conventional fruits and vegetables. EWG’s contamination rankings were derived from the organization’s review of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration data from 2000 and 2010 that detailed the amounts and types of pesticides detected on sampled produce washed and peeled before testing. Providing “Dirty Dozen™” and “Clean 15™” lists, the guide once again singles out apples as the “worst offender,” reporting that 98 percent of the fruit tested contained pesticide residues. Although they did not make the criteria as worst offenders, green beans and leafy greens such as kale and collard greens were named in EWG’s “Dirty Dozen Plus™” list because they are “commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides,” according to EWG. “These insecticides are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed…
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued interpretive guidance on chlorothalonil in tomato products, concluding that the average consumer does not eat enough fresh tomatoes or tomato products to exceed the No Significant Risk Level (NSRL) for the pesticide. According to OEHHA, a NSRL for chlorothalonil of 41 micrograms (µg) per day will take effect on June 15, 2012, at which point businesses causing exposures in excess of the NSRL must comply with Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) warning requirements. OEHHA evidently based its upper-bound limit estimates on USDA pesticide residue surveys taken in 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008, as well as National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data on tomato consumption. “Consumption of chlorothalonil residues by the average consumer of tomatoes does not result in exposures that exceed the Proposition 65 NSRL of 41 µg/day for the chemical, where the residue levels in tomatoes are at…
The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution setting priorities for the Seventh Environmental Action Program (7EAP) and urging the Commission to present a 7EAP proposal “without delay.” Set to expire July 22, 2012, the Sixth EAP (6EAP) aimed to provide “an overarching framework for environment policy” and substantially consolidated environmental regulations, although it failed to fulfill several of its objectives and did not account for new challenges such as those concerning mixed chemicals, pesticides and water. The latest resolution calls for 7EAP to improve implementation, enforcement and integration of the policies laid out in 6EAP and to address additional goals in the following areas: (i) climate change; (ii) sustainability; (iii) biodiversity and forestry; and (iv) environmental quality and human health. In particular, the European Parliament has asked the next program to develop measures to counter “emerging human and animal health threats” as well as “examine the effects of new developments…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a February 14, 2012, public meeting in Arlington, Virginia, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) on April 23-28 in Shanghai, China. CCPR is responsible for establishing maximum pesticide-residue limits in specific food items, food groups or in “certain animal feeding stuffs moving in international trade where this is justified for reasons of protection of human health.” See Federal Register, January 23, 2012.
According to news sources, the Center for Food Safety, which lost its challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) decision to deregulate without restriction genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, plans to appeal the matter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A federal court in California determined on January 5, 2012, that the law does not require the agency to “account for the effects of cross-pollination on other commercial crops” in assessing whether a new crop poses risks. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti also reportedly said that USDA lacks the authority to require a buffer zone between GE crops and conventional or organic crops. Noting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of glyphosate on Roundup Ready® alfalfa, Conti further observed, “If plaintiffs’ allegations are true, then it is disturbing that EPA has yet to assess the effects of glyphosate on most of the species found near…
According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Ohio has decided not to pursue regulations that would prohibit dairy producers from including on their labels statements that organic dairy products are made without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined in September 2010 that those parts of the rule involving hormone-free statements violated the First Amendment and remanded the action to the federal district court for further development of the record as to the rule’s ban on composition claims related to antibiotics and pesticides. More details about the court’s ruling appear in Issue 366 of this Update. The trade group stated, “Ohio has now agreed to abandon the rule rather than trying to revive it, recognizing that the First Amendment allows organic dairy products to proudly state that they are produced in accordance with organic standards without the use of synthetic growth hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics.”…
Dole Food Co. has reportedly signed a definitive settlement agreement that could conclude five U.S. lawsuits and 33 lawsuits filed in Nicaragua by banana plantation workers purportedly exposed to the agricultural chemical DBCP (1,2-Dibromo3-chloropropane). At stake are potential alleged damages in excess of $9 billion. According to Dole’s October 3, 2011, news release, the company “will not fund the settlement by making any payments until specific conditions are satisfied, including receiving a signed release from each plaintiff, dismissals of cases and judgments, and a good faith settlement determination by the Los Angeles Superior Court that is presiding over four of the U.S. cases.”
