On December 18, 2017, FDA announced the availability of a new draft guidance for homeopathic drugs. This guidance, when finalized, will replace the compliance policy guide (CPG) 400.400 from 1988. Homeopathy is based on an 18th-century idea that substances that cause disease symptoms can, in very small …
As discussed previously, the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule has a somewhat tortured history. The rule was finalized at the end of the Obama administration. Since then, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has delayed the effective date of the rule several times, most …
As readers of this blog may recall (see here), the purpose of the Sunscreen Innovation Act (SIA) was to speed up FDA’s review of time and extent applications (TEAs). TEA process provides a pathway for adding an active ingredient to an existing over-the-counter (OTC) drug …
On November 14, 2017, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that it will further delay and reconsider the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) regulations. This is not the first delay of the effective date for the OLPP regulations. The OLPP final rule amends the …
As we previously reported, the integrity of imported organic products has been questioned. International supply chains are becoming increasingly “complex” and frequently involve a number of businesses which may be certified under different programs. Foreign organic operations are subject to the same requirements as domestic organic …
As we previously reported, the integrity of imported organic products has been questioned. International supply chains are becoming increasingly “complex” and frequently involve a number of businesses which may be certified under different programs. Foreign organic operations are subject to the same requirements as domestic organic …
I understand if this title made you think for a minute, did I read that right? You probably did. Another Citizen Petition regarding pyridoxamine was filed. This one asks that FDA essentially undo what it did in 2009. Pyridoxamine is a form of vitamin B6. In July …
In January 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and New York Attorney General (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) announced a lawsuit charging that Quincy Bioscience, related entities, and two individuals (collectively “Defendants”), the marketers of the dietary supplement Prevagen, made false and unsubstantiated claims that Prevagen improved memory. …
On September 28, 2017, the Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its internal report on FDA’s domestic food facility inspections. The “key takeaway”: “FDA should do more to ensure that the food supply is safe by taking swift and …
Earlier this year, a front page story in the Washington Post spotlighted several cases of fraudulent organic certificates, raising questions about organic certification practices overseas. Now, a new report by USDA’s Inspector General (IG) report confirms those doubts. The IG reviewed the process used by the …
As readers of this blog know, in 2016 FDA published a final rule amending the nutrition labeling regulations. Although the industry requested more time to come into compliance with that final rule (which requires revision of virtually every food label), FDA set the compliance date …
As part of the development of mandatory disclosure requirements for bioengineered foods, USDA is required to complete and report on a study to identify potential technological challenges that may impact whether consumers would have access to the bioengineering disclosure through electronic or digital links, such …
As readers of this blog may recall, last year on July 29, 2016, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard Act (“the Act”) was signed into law. This Act directs the Agricultural Marketing Service of the USDA to develop “a national mandatory bioengineered food disclosure standard” …
In November 2013, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA issued a regulation expanding the circumstances in which labels were eligible for generic label approval (see our previous post here). Under that regulation, meat and poultry labels need not be submitted for label …
In June 2017, two consumer advocacy organizations, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the National Consumer League (“Plaintiffs”), sued FDA challenging the Agency’s interim final rule extending the compliance date for menu labeling and request for comments (see our previous post here). …
