Perspectives on Food & Agriculture

With organic foods now accounting for over $40 billion in total US food sales, and the accompanying larger scale of organic operations, increased scrutiny of the integrity of the National Organic Program represents a natural progression in the evolution of the program’s history.

This week, Sonny Perdue became the penultimate nominee for President Trump’s cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate.

The Food and Drug Administration has just announced that it will hold a Public Meeting on March 9, 2017 to discuss use of the term “healthy” in the labeling of human food products.

On December 9, 2016, the Senate Agriculture Committee filed report language for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law, the legislation signed into law by President Obama in July to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.

On December 7, 2016, FDA published a Notice in the Federal Register announcing that its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition will begin publishing data extracted from adverse event reports the Agency has received for conventional foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics.

USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced that meat and poultry products may use the Nutrition Facts label recently finalized by FDA earlier this year.

A review of FSIS recall data from the past five years indicates that recalls of meat and poultry products due to the presence of foreign matter contamination have grown in number, particularly over the past year.

Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued revised food safety standards known as the “Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards” (MFRPS).

The Beer Institute (BI) announced last week that is was implementing a “Brewer’s Voluntary Disclosure Initiative” intended to encourage its membership to begin disclosing nutritional information about its products on product labeling, packaging and on product websites.

The House of Representatives has voted 306-117 to approve the bipartisan GMO disclosure bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 and to establish a mandatory National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.

Late Thursday night, the Senate voted 63-30 to approve a bipartisan GMO disclosure bill hammered out earlier by Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). 

FDA announced Tuesday that it will begin reevaluating how it regulates the use of the term “healthy” on food labeling.

FDA recently issued its final guidance on restaurant menu labeling intended to help restaurants and similar retail food establishments understand nutrition labeling requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that may apply to them.

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the federal government’s 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines.

The TPP will undoubtedly increase the volume of food choices within the twelve nation pact. Congress is well aware of this anticipated increase in competition and will work to ensure that US border agencies have the resources to enforce regulations to guard against unsafe and counterfeit products.

Earlier this week, the owners of the egg distribution firm, Quality Egg, LLC (Quality Egg), were sentenced to three months in prison, given one year of supervised probation, and required to each pay a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to selling eggs in 2010 that were contaminated with salmonella.

Last week, 14 state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress requesting that it investigate the herbal supplements industry, as well as consider giving the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stronger oversight authority over the marketing of such products in the US.

On January 28, 2015, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced respective companion food safety legislation in the Senate (S.287, the “Safe Food Act of 2015”) and House (HR.609).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just issued its long-awaited Draft Guidance on Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) Requirements for Combination Products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a dozen Warning Letters to dairy farms across the country.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued Guidance that describes circumstances that could occur during a drug facility inspection that might be deemed to constitute a “delay,” “denial,” “limitation,” or “refusal” of an inspection.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final regulations requiring that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants, and retail food establishments, and final regulations governing mandatory calorie declaration on food sold in vending machines.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently released a report critical of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) pesticide residue monitoring programs for food.

In an 8-0 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled last week that a private party may bring a Lanham Act claim challenging a food label regulated by the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).