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    • HPM Attorney to Present at FDLI’s Food Law and Regulation ConferenceDecember 17th, 2010

      Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Ricardo Carvajal will be presenting "Food Safety: Unintended Components/Contaminants of Food" at the Food and Drug Law Institute's ("FDLI’s") January 24-25, 2011 conference, "Introduction to Food Law and Regulation: How the Government Regulates the Food Industry," which is part of FDLI’s Food Week …

    • FTC and Dannon Settle Over Probiotic ClaimsDecember 16th, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal – FTC announced a proposed settlement with Dannon over the latter’s allegedly deceptive advertising claims for two of its probiotic products, Activia and DanActive.  FTC’s complaint alleged that Dannon explicitly or implicitly represented that one serving of Activia relieved temporary irregularity and helped …

    • The Value of GRASDecember 9th, 2010

      The Washington Legal Foundation recently published an article written by HPM attorneys, Ricardo Carvajal and Nisha P. Shah, on the February 2010 Government Accountability Office ("GAO") report that criticized FDA's general oversight of uses of ingredients that are generally recognized as safe (“GRAS”) and the agency's …

    • The Cost of Inadequate SubstantiationDecember 7th, 2010

      Hyman, Phelps & McNamara’s Paul Hyman and Ricardo Carvajal recently published an article in Food Chemical News on the cost of inadequate substantiation of health-related claims made in the labeling and advertising of foods.  Although FDA appears reluctant to take an aggressive stance with respect …

    • Federal Judge Orders that Genetically Modified Sugar Beet Seedlings be Pulled from the GroundDecember 6th, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal – In a strongly worded opinion, a federal judge has ordered that genetically modified sugar beet stecklings (seedlings) planted pursuant to permits issued by USDA be pulled from the ground.  As we noted in a prior blog posting, USDA/APHIS was found in violation …

    • Food Safety Legislation Hits a RoadblockDecember 2nd, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal No sooner had we blogged on Senate passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act than Roll Call reported that the bill might be doomed by a constitutional flaw – namely that § 107 of the bill proposes fees, and Article I, section 7 …

    • Color Warnings on Hyperactivity Coming to a Food Near You?December 1st, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal -  FDA announced that its Food Advisory Committee will meet on March 30 and 31, 2011, “to discuss whether available relevant data demonstrate a link between children’s consumption of synthetic color additives in food and adverse effects on behavior.”  Earlier this year, the European …

    • U.S. Senate Advances Food Safety LegislationNovember 30th, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal – By a vote of 73 to 25 (see the roll call here), the Senate has passed S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act.  As we noted in a prior posting, the Senate HELP Committee released a compromise agreement in August that would …

    • Publish and Perish: A Disturbing Trend in the European Union’s Regulation of Nutrition Health Claims Made on FoodsNovember 19th, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal – An article in the current edition of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Update discusses a recent development in the European Union's regulation on health claims used in food labeling that could have the effect of suppressing publication of scientific research on …

    • Trans Fat Labeling: Another Court Finds in Favor of PreemptionNovember 8th, 2010

      By Ricardo Carvajal – A California district court dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging that baked-goods products manufactured by Hostess Brands, Inc. are marketed in violation of California law because they are promoted as containing “0 grams of Trans Fat” despite containing partially hydrogenated oils.  The …