By Riëtte van Laack – Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) recently introduced the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act (S. 809 and H.R. 1699) that would direct FDA to require labeling to identify genetically engineered (“GE”) foods “so that consumers can make informed …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA’s third annual report on the Reportable Food Registry (RFR) confirms the major patterns observed in the first two annual reports: foodborne pathogens and undeclared major food allergens (MFAs) continue to account for the vast majority of RFR entries (Salmonella accounted …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment to the Center for Food Safety and Center for Environmental Health in their lawsuit (see our previous post here) alleging that FDA’s delay in issuing regulations to implement …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA reportedly intends to extend the comment period on the preventive controls and produce safety proposed rules by an additional 120 days (the comment period was scheduled to expire on May 16). The extension was requested in a letter by the …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Our colleagues at the Drug and Device Law Blog recently blogged on the decision in Wilson v. Frito-Lay North America, Inc., a false advertising case out of the Northern District of California in which the court held that statements on a food …
By Riëtte van Laack – On March 28, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California entered summary judgment for the defendants in a 2010 class-action lawsuit which had alleged that defendants misrepresented AriZona Iced Tea beverages containing “man-made” citric acid and …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA") directed FDA to establish pilot projects “to explore and evaluate methods to rapidly and effectively identify recipients of food to prevent or mitigate a foodborne illness outbreak and to address credible threats …
By Riëtte van Laack – Under the Organic Food Production Act (“OFPA”), the National Organic Program (“NOP”) of the USDA is authorized to establish the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (“National List”). This National List contains each synthetic substance that is permitted and each …
By Ricardo Carvajal – When FDA published its proposed rule on preventive controls as authorized by FSMA, we noted that FDA requested comment on a number of important issues that were not addressed in the text of the regulation itself, namely product testing, environmental monitoring, and …
By Etan J. Yeshua – New York City's portion cap rule will have its day in court (again) in early June. The rule, which would have fined food service establishments for each sugary drink sold in a container larger than 16 ounces, was challenged and struck …
By Riëtte van Laack – As we previously reported in January 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) determined that POM Wonderful, LLC’s advertising for its products violated the FTC Act and issued a cease and desist order restraining POM’s future advertising. On March 8, 2013, POM filed …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA recently denied a citizen petition (Docket No. FDA-2011-P-0484) that asked the agency to take numerous actions with respect to mercury in commercial fish. In part, the petition asked FDA to establish an action level, regulatory limit, or tolerance of 0.5 ppm (the …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Notification of Opportunity to Initiate a Voluntary Recall that FDA recently issued to a pet treat manufacturer gives a good indication of the type of evidence and circumstances that can prompt the agency to exercise its new mandatory recall authority. Before …
By Ricardo Carvajal & JP Ellison – The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced the indictment of former officials of the Peanut Corporation of America ("PCA") for their alleged role in the distribution of peanut products that were implicated in a 2008-2009 national outbreak of …
By Riëtte van Laack – On February 13, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (“CSPI”) together with a coalition of 10 public health departments, 20 national health organizations, and 41 health and nutrition experts, submitted a 55-page petition to FDA requesting that FDA review …
