Category: Issue 351
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Commerce Secretary Declares Fishery Disaster for Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (D) has reportedly declared a fishery disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s effect on commercial and recreational fisheries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Made in response to requests from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) and Mississippi Governor Haley…
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GAO Testimony Takes Aim at Herbal Dietary Supplements’ Marketing Practices, Contaminants
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has delivered testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging that highlights examples of deceptive or questionable marketing practices involving certain dietary supplements. GAO also reported that some herbal dietary supplements contained contaminants, including trace amounts of lead. According to GAO Managing Director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations…
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GAO Report Targets FDA’s Food Safety Research
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week released a report assessing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts to address “serious deficiencies” in its food safety research. After a recent survey indicated that only 36 percent of FDA managers felt the agency “was making great progress in keeping pace with scientific advances,” GAO began investigating the…
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FDA Issues Draft Industry Guidance on Reportable Food Registry
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft industry guidance in a question-and-answer format that provides information about complying with the reportable food registry requirements of a 2007 law. The purpose of the registry is to provide a “reliable mechanism to track patterns of adulteration in food [which] would support efforts by the Food…
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FTC Announces Plan to Study Food, Beverage Marketing Targeted to Kids
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced its intention to issue compulsory process orders to 48 food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, marketers, and quick service restaurant companies for information on their marketing activities and expenditures targeted toward children and adolescents. FTC also seeks nutritional information about the companies’ food and beverage products marketed to children…
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New York Lawmaker Introduces Legislation to Address Additional E. Coli Strains
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would regulate six confirmed strains of E. coli that have largely been ignored given the notoriety of recalls involving meat and produce contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Referred to by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as non-0157 STECs, the six strains are apparently estimated…