Category: Issue 342

  • FDA Meets with Spice Industry to Examine Supply Safety

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly met with spice industry representatives to consider ways to make spices safer amid a nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to black and red pepper. According to a news source, FDA wants companies to prevent contamination by using one of three methods to rid spices of bacteria: irradiation, steam heating…

  • EPA Supports Draft EIS in GE Alfalfa Dustup

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted comments to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) indicating that it “does not object” to APHIS’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, prepared by court order after a successful court challenge to USDA’s decision to deregulate the bioengineered seed. Environmentalists convinced…

  • New York Senator Unveils Consumer Recall Notification Act

    U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation (S.B. 3114) that would require food distributors, retailers and health agencies to notify consumers and local officials in the event of a Class I food recall. Under the Consumer Recall Notification Act, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could ask grocery stores and other retailers to provide…