By Ricardo Carvajal – In tandem with the release of a House Energy and Commerce Committee staff report on last year’s outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes in cantaloupe, members of that committee sent Commissioner Hamburg a letter calling for reforms in the conduct and oversight of third-party audits. …
By Riëtte van Laack – USDA’s National Organic Program ("NOP") published a proposed rule that would amend the listing of vitamins and minerals in the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). The National List identifies non-agricultural synthetic ingredients that may be used in …
By Riëtte van Laack – On January 3, 2012, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (“USP”), a scientific organization that publishes the Food Chemical Codex (“FCC”), an international compendium of quality specifications for food ingredients, announced proposed standards for probiotic food ingredients. The proposed standards will be included …
The Food and Drug Law Institute’s (“FLDI”) annual Food Week Conference is being held in Washington, DC on January 23-26, 2012. FDLI Food Week features a two-day introduction to food law and regulation, as well as three days of advanced programming on advertising and labeling, …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Earlier this month, the HHS Office of Inspector General ("OIG") issued a report that identifies a number of “significant weaknesses” in FDA’s oversight of food facility inspections conducted by state agencies under contract with FDA. OIG found that FDA: “failed to ensure that …
By Riëtte van Laack – In a December 12, 2011 decision, Judge R. Leon of the District Court for the District of Columbia granted Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss an action by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (Plaintiff) requiring that Defendants FDA and USDA withdraw the “MyPyramid” …
By Riëtte van Laack – On December 5, 2011, the Food Safety Inspection Service (“FSIS”) of the USDA proposed to amend its regulations concerning label approval of meat and poultry products. The proposed rule would further expand the types of labels that do not require pre-market …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA issued a warning letter to a food manufacturer for labeling as “all natural” a product that contains disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, purportedly a synthetic chemical preservative. The letter cites an alleged violation of FDC Act § 403(a)(1), under which a food is …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Late last month, a district court issued a ruling of interest in a Lanham Act case brought by sugar producers and trade associations against corn refiners and the Corn Refiners Association ("CRA") over their marketing of high fructose corn syrup ("HFCS"). The …
By Susan J. Matthees – The American Council of Independent Laboratories (“ACIL”), the Association of Food Industries, and the Cheese Importers Association of America, Inc. recently petitioned FDA to revoke or partially revoke its Federal Register notice announcing Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”) user fees amounts …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – The Institute of Medicine (“IOM”) recently issued its Phase II report on consumer use and understanding of front-of-package (“FOP”) labeling systems for foods, recommending that both the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) “consider …
By Ricardo Carvajal – NIH and USDA announced a joint workshop on Using Nanotechnology To Improve Nutrition Through Enhanced Bioavailability and Efficacy. Among the goals of the workshop are to “identify knowledge gaps in the use of nutrients (and bioactive food components) for disease prevention,” and to …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA updated its guidance on administrative detention of food to reflect the expansion of the agency’s authority under the Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA"). As we noted in a prior blog posting, the FSMA made it easier for FDA to administratively …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s dismissal of an action alleging consumer fraud in food labeling claims for fiber. As we noted in a prior posting, Plaintiff alleged that Defendants violated state consumer fraud laws by failing to …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – Earlier this year, we reported on the Interagency Working Group’s (“IWG’s”) proposed voluntary principles for marketing food to children. The IWG includes representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, …
